Google must face Voice Assistant privacy lawsuit: U.S. judge

A federal judge said Google must face much of a lawsuit accusing the company of illegally recording and disseminating private conversations of people who accidentally trigger its voice-activated Voice Assistant on their smartphones.

In a Thursday night decision, U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman let plaintiffs in the proposed class action pursue claims that Google and its parent Alphabet Inc violated California privacy laws, some claims that they violated federal privacy laws, and some breach of contract claims.

The San Jose, California-based judge also dismissed the plaintiffs’ California consumer protection claims, but said they could be refiled.

Google Assistant is designed to react when mobile device owners use “hot words” such as “Hey Google” or “Okay Google,” similar to Apple Inc’s Siri.