The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated a lawsuit against Google, brought by Chrome users who claim the company collected their personal data without consent. The court ruled on August 20, 2024, that the lower court had erred in dismissing the class action without fully considering whether reasonable users had consented to data collection when opting not to synchronize their browsers with their Google accounts. This decision comes after Google's 2023 settlement, in which the company agreed to delete billions of records related to users who believed their browsing activity was private, including while using Chrome's "Incognito" mode.
Google has expressed disagreement with the ruling, asserting that Chrome Sync is designed to provide a seamless experience across devices with clear privacy controls. The plaintiffs argue that Google failed to honor Chrome's privacy promise, which suggested that no personal information would be collected unless users activated the sync function. The appeals court has remanded the case to US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who had previously dismissed it, allowing the lawsuit to proceed and potentially leading to individual damage claims from affected users.
