• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, May 26, 2023

A federal judge on Thursday granted preliminary approval to Google's $23 million settlement of a 13-year-old privacy lawsuit over allegations that the company leaked consumers' personal information by transmitting their search queries to publishers.

If granted final approval by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, the deal will allow an estimated 200 million U.S. web users who conducted Google searches between October 25, 2006 and September 30, 2013 to claim a portion of the settlement fund. 

The proposed deal stems from a battle dating to 2010, when search users claimed Google disclosing their queries -- including names and other identifying information -- to outside publishers. (Google no longer transmits search queries when people click on links in the search results.)

Google previously attempted to resolve the lawsuit by agreeing to donate $5.3 million to six nonprofits and schools, and more than $2.1 million to the attorneys who brought the lawsuit. That deal hit a roadblock when Ted Frank, founder of the Center for Class Action Fairness, challenged the settlement on the grounds that it didn't adequately compensate Google's users.

Frank's challenge reached the Supreme Court which returned the matter to Davila to decide a separate issue -- whether the allegations, if proven true, would show that Google harmed to users by sharing their search queries with publishers.

Davila ruled in 2020 that the users could proceed with several claims, including that Google violated the federal wiretap law and that it broke its privacy promises.

Google has denied any wrongdoing in the case.

If granted final approval by U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, the deal will allow an estimated 200 million U.S. web users who conducted Google searches between October 25, 2006 and September 30, 2013 to claim a portion of the settlement fund. 

Assuming the deal goes through, it will put an end to a battle dating to 2010, when search users claimed Google disclosing their queries -- including names and other identifying information -- to outside publishers. (Google no longer transmits search queries when people click on links in the search results.)

Google previously attempted to resolve the lawsuit by agreeing to donate $5.3 million to six nonprofits and schools, and more than $2.1 million to the attorneys who brought the lawsuit. That deal hit a roadblock when Ted Frank, founder of the Center for Class Action Fairness, challenged the settlement on the grounds that it didn't adequately compensate Google's users.

Frank's challenge reached the Supreme Court which returned the matter to Davila to decide a separate issue -- whether the allegations, if proven true, would show that Google harmed to users by sharing their search queries with publishers.

Davila ruled in 2020 that the users could proceed with several claims, including that Google violated the federal wiretap law and that it broke its privacy promises.

Google has denied any wrongdoing in the case.

People who want to object to the deal must do so by July 31. Davila will hold a hearing in October about whether to accept the settlement.