Google Class Action Over Privacy to Proceed in 2025

A federal judge has allowed a class-action lawsuit against Google to proceed, accusing the company of collecting personal data from users who had opted out of tracking through the Web & App Activity settings. Chief Judge Richard Seeborg of the US District Court in San Francisco rejected Google's request to dismiss the case, highlighting that the company's disclosures were ambiguous and could be perceived as 'highly offensive' by reasonable users. The lawsuit, scheduled for trial in August 2025, claims that Google violated user privacy and California law by saving browsing histories without consent, even after tracking settings were deactivated. Internal Google communications revealed that employees were aware of the ambiguous nature of the disclosures, which could mislead users about the extent of data collection. Google maintains that its privacy controls are adequate and argues that the allegations misrepresent how its products operate. The case underscores significant concerns about enterprise data governance and user consent transparency.