A week ago I wrote about Arizona suing Google over data collection. Arizona’s complaint is that Google collects location information even if you turn it off. Since that data collection was for maps and weather, I was willing to give Google the benefit of the doubt but I did wonder why that same information has to be recorded and sent to Google.
Now a new suit filed in California alleges that Google tracks and collects consumer browsing history and other web activity data no matter what safeguards consumers undertake to protect their data privacy. The suit notes that although Chrome offers a “private browsing” mode, Google still collects browsing information from other tools. One way is the popular Google Analytics software that many sites use to track page views. That works by sending information about you to Google when you visit a site that’s using Google Analytics. The suit names Google Ad Manager as another tool used to gather browsing data.
The suit is being handled by Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, a firm well-known for high profile litigation in the Tech arena and other areas. Similar suits have been dismissed so the outcome of this one is anything but certain. The main takeaway seems to be that no matter what Google says or how often they’re fined, they’re going to keep right on doing what they do. That’s not surprising; it’s an existential matter for them.