Consumers Who Demand Google For The Practice Of Data Collection Loss Initial Appeals

Google won the initial-level lawsuit. (photo: dock. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Google LLC users who sued Alphabet Inc's over their data collection practices have lost their initial efforts to demand compensation for billions of dollars in class action charges.

Plaintiff sued Google in 2020, claiming that Google continues to collect data from users even though they use the "Incognito" mode in Chrome. The lawsuit demands at least 5 billion US dollars (Rp75.8 trillion) in compensation.

On Wednesday, March 2, the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco rejected the plaintiff's attempt to appeal a lower-level court decision last year against class action status to claim compensation for Google.

Plaatiffs have been seeking an appeal hearing on this issue in the middle of the trial and can still try to revive their claim of compensation when a final decision comes. The jury trial is scheduled for November.

Class action status will mean that plaintiffs can claim large-scale claims against Google as a group, compared to filing individual claims for compensation. The class of damage will include at least "tens of millions" Google browser users, according to court documents.

Plaintiffs, whose lawyers include veteran litigator David Boies of Boiesmen Flexner, argued at the 9th Circuit that a lower-level court ruling in December rejected class action certification for compensation for "death votes" for claim of compensation for many users who do not have the means to prosecute individually in this case.

Google's lawyer at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has asked the 9th Circuit not to allow immediate appeal and vice versa to wait until they hear from the parties after the final order is issued.

Google, reported by Reuters, denies it tricked anyone about its personal browsing mode, saying Chrome browser users gave approval for the company's data collection.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on Wednesday's decision.

While the decision means that the plaintiff cannot claim compensation as a class, the lower-level court has approved two other classes that could demand the removal of some Google data collection practices.

Boies and other plaintiffs' lawyers did not immediately respond to a message on Thursday seeking comment.