Google law

[JohnD]

English Law

"Google has won a groundbreaking appeal at the UK’s Supreme Court on Wednesday, blocking a US-style class action lawsuit brought in the English courts on behalf of more than 4m Apple iPhone users over Google’s alleged tracking of personal data.

The UK’s highest court prevented Richard Lloyd, a former director of consumer group Which?, from serving legal papers on Google in the US — putting an end to a £3.3bn lawsuit filed on behalf of Apple iPhone users that claimed their internet activity had been secretly tracked by Google between 2011 and 2012.

If Lloyd’s lawsuit had been allowed to proceed in the English courts, lawyers say it would have permanently changed the legal landscape for technology companies by allowing millions of consumers to band together in US class-action style lawsuits, and it would have opened the floodgates for mass litigation against IT companies over data breaches."

FT.com

 

[JohnD]

In other news,

European Law

"Google has lost an appeal against a landmark €2.42bn European antitrust decision that ruled the tech giant had abused its position to the detriment of rivals to its shopping service.

The General Court of Luxembourg on Wednesday dismissed Google’s legal challenge against the EU’s 2017 decision, marking a big victory for competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager’s antitrust enforcement.

The ruling, which is likely to be appealed, marks the first time a European court has ruled on an antitrust case against Google.

Google said the judgment relates to a “very specific set of facts” and that it made changes in 2017 to comply with the European Commission’s decision. Brussels fined Google after a seven year investigation concluded that the company was abusing its dominance in search by giving “illegal advantage” to its own shopping service."

FT.com