A UK Court will allow a group of privacy experts to sue Google over the company's circumvention of privacy settings in Apple's Safari browser, reports Gigaom. Following this ruling, the activists can pursue a tort claim that alleges Google misused their private information. The Honourable Mr Justice Tugendhat writes in his decision:
This case stems from Google's former practice of installing cookies in Safari even when the web browser blocked that practice. Google circumvented the browser's default privacy settings by tricking Safari into thinking a web page was a trusted page. Google did this through code embedded in its ads that made Safari think the user was submitting a form. When a user fills out a form, Safari makes an exception in its privacy policy and allows a cookie to be installed on a user's device, and Google exploited this exception to install cookies without the permission of the user."I am satisfied that there is a serious issue to be tried in each of the Claimants' claims for misuse of private information... The Claimants' application to rely on ground (9) in relation to the DPA [Data Protection Act] claim is allowed... the Claimants have clearly established that this jurisdiction is the appropriate one in which to try each of the above claims."
Article Link: UK Court Allows Activists to Sue Google Over Safari Tracking