Google Wins Appeal in Google Street View Lawsuit
Google’s Street View Class Action Settlement Pays Advocacy Groups Not Class Members
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against privacy advocacy groups recently when it found Google’s settlement agreement terms regarding a class action over Street View was sufficient.
Google Seeks Settlement of Street View Class Action Litigation with Payment to Advocacy Groups
The decision came after a long-disputed fight between Google and privacy advocates regarding Google’s agreement to pay $13 million to the advocacy groups instead of to the class action members directly. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the same Circuit Court of Appeals that had originally denied Google’s initial attempts to get out of the class action suits in 2013, ultimately found for Google in 2021.
The dispute arose when several different groups of class action plaintiffs filed actions against Google over its ubiquitous Street View feature of its Google Maps. Since 2010, the legal wrangling has raged on because privacy advocates argued that Google was collecting sensitive data illegally when it shot its famous panoramic photographs of streets because, while doing so, Google has also been collecting personal information of private citizens via access of private Wi-Fi networks.
Street View Class Action Settlement Cuts Class Members Out of Payout
After continued litigation, Google decided to settle with the plaintiffs. The settlement was opposed by several state attorneys as well as the class action plaintiffs, which includes high-profile plaintiffs like the Center for Digital Democracy, the Hamilton Lincoln Law Institute’s Center for Class Action Fairness, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
In its opinion, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals noted in a panel decision that paying the class members directly would not be feasible. Instead, the 9th Circuit ruled that paying the settlement to the advocacy groups and Google’s other settlement terms regarding privacy compliance was sufficient. It is important to note that in a concurring opinion, however, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated that there was a “compelling argument that class members receive no benefit at all from [this] … settlement.”
Key Takeaways on Google’s Street View Class Action Settlement Agreement
An important decision in privacy rights was decided recently by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that:
Ruled that Google’s class action settlement terms were sufficient despite not paying the class action members directly;
Featured high-profile parties like the ACLU and Google; and
Ultimately found for Google despite having a concurring opinion that seemed to agree with the class action members.
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