Google aims to settle its 12-year class action lawsuit for $23 million over user privacy concerns

After more than a decade lingering, Google has agreed to settle its 2013 federal lawsuit for $23 million, according to Bloomberg. What lawsuit, you may ask? Well, that’s exactly how long it’s been in motion – 12 whole years is enough for most casual readers to forget. To refresh your memory, consumers accused the company of sharing search terms you type into the Google search box with third parties for advertising reasons.

This led to many believing that some form of personal data could then be extracted or understood from that information. Whether or not it was true, the fact is that Google didn’t explicitly state to users that it would be letting money-grubbing companies lay eyes on it, and that’s enough to make anyone uncomfortable. Originally, these folks wanted your search terms to better understand what led you to a particular page – something that would better help them target ads and get you to spend money, of course.

When large tech companies avoid this vital step for transparency, it’s considered a violation of the Stored Communications Act – a law that makes sure no one gets a hold of your data except those you have given permission.

As a result of this lawsuit, Google is now required to give extra disclosures when it wants to give your information to anyone at all. To be fair, Google did state in the past that your personal info is in no way tied to search terms, but that was back when it originally intended to settle the case in 2013. That never happened though because another case (Spokeo Inc. v. Robins) dictated that individuals must prove that the situation did, in fact, cause them harm before they could sue.

As of right now, the lawsuit is not settled, and the deal still needs to be approved by the court. Ever since Google got grilled on Capitol Hill with Facebook and Apple regarding their lack of transparency with users on how their data would be used, it’s implemented loads of safety features to place you in control. I think this is a lesson to everyone at the top that doing this from the onset is a better practice if they want to retain our trust.