Back in March of 2012, Google made international headlines with its controversial decision to revise its privacy policy in a way that allowed it to consolidate information about users. Ever since, a group of consumers have been trying to sue the company for allegedly violating users' privacy. This week, a federal judge ruled that the consumers could proceed with a lawsuit -- but not based on their original claims. Instead, U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal in San Jose, Calif. said that users could continue with allegations that Google wrongly transfers users' names and contact information to app developers. Those allegations -- which weren't part of the original controversy surrounding Google's privacy policy -- first surfaced last year, when it emerged that Google provided developers with a host of details about consumers who purchased apps, including people's contact information. Many observers were surprised to learn that Google did so, especially because Apple's iTunes platform doesn't share purchasers' data. But Google said at the time that the Google Wallet privacy policy always allowed it to share information necessary to process transactions. Grewal ruled that users could move forward based on their allegations that Google “left a privacy policy in place which led consumers to believe that access to their data would be limited to certain groups ... even though it knew that it planned to distribute the data outside of those groups.” Grewal also ruled that the consumers alleged they were harmed based on a “loss of battery power and other system resources.” The judge dismissed other allegations -- including the original claims that Google violated users' privacy by combining data across a variety of platforms, including YouTube and Android. But his decision leaves enough of the case alive that the consumers are now in a position to either reach a settlement or proceed with the litigation. “Like Rocky rising from Apollo’s uppercut in the 14th round, Plaintiffs’ complaint has sustained much damage but just manages to stand,” Grewal said.