A federal judge is allowing a class-action privacy lawsuit to proceed against Google, denying the tech giant’s effort to dismiss claims that it invaded people’s privacy.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected Google’s request to dismiss the lawsuit’s allegations of breach of contract, privacy invasion and publication of private information.
The plaintiffs, who are Google account holders, alleged that Google collected data from everyone using its services and then distributed and sold the information for targeted advertising through a real-time bidding (RTB) system.
Judge Gonzalez Rogers’ order from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California this week said the plaintiffs have the standing to sue, and she wrote that the litigants successfully demonstrated the bidding process was not sufficiently disclosed to Google’s users.