Google loses bid for blocking privacy lawsuit

Google has lost a bid to block a privacy lawsuit in the UK over alleged unauthorised placement of cookies on devices running Apple's Safari browser with the UK High Court's ruling yesterday, that the case fell within the scope of the country's jurisdiction.

The internet company had been sued by a group of internet privacy activists for allegedly circumventing the security settings in Safari in order to plant a cookie used to covertly track online usage and deliver targeted ads, according to information in the court's ruling.

By tracking and collating data without the plaintiffs' consent or knowledge over the period from the summer of 2011 and February 2012, the company misused private information and acted in breach of confidence and statutory duties under the country's Data Protection Act, according to the plaintiffs.

Google however pleaded, in the case, it should not be sued in the UK as the country's privacy laws did not apply to it, according to information in the ruling, which was published by the plaintiffs. According to Google, the plaintiffs could sue the company in California, where it was based.

The High Court ruling otherwise, said that there was a ''serious issue to be tried'' in each of the plaintiff's claims for misuse of private information.

''The claimants have clearly established that this jurisdiction is the appropriate one,'' wrote justice Michael George Tugendhat, who, however noted that Google did not claim it could never be sued under the UK jurisdiction and accepted that in some cases it could be.

The action was started by a group of British Google users in 2013 who contended that the search giant had illegally tracked their online activity between summer 2011 and spring 2012.

According to one of the claimants, Judith Vidal-Hall, she was delighted Google would now have to explain its actions.

She said the group of claimants wanted to know what Google had done with the private data, how much they had made from this, and why they kept flouting privacy laws.

Google said it would approach the Court of Appeal to explore possibility of challenging the ruling.

According to a Google spokesperson, a case almost identical to the one was dismissed in its entirety three months ago in the US.

Google said the company still did not think the case met the standards required in the UK for it to go on trial and the company would be appealing the ruling.