London court allows mass claim against Google over iPhone data

London: London’s Court of Appeal gave the go-ahead for action against Google over claims it collected data from more than 4 million iPhone users, overturning a ruling in 2018 that in effect blocked any route to legal redress.

The claimants said Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., had illegally accessed details of Apple iPhone users’ internet browsing data by bypassing privacy settings on the Safari browser between June 2011 and February 2012.

London’s High Court ruled in October 2018 that Google’s alleged role in the collection, collation and use of data from the browser was wrongful and a breach of duty, but claimants had not suffered “damage” as specified by Britain’s Data Protection Act.