THE PEOPLES’ REVOLT: COLLECTIVE LITIGATION FOLLOWING LLOYD V GOOGLE
What hotter topics are there than data protection and collective actions? The UK Supreme Court is considering an appeal which may change how collective litigation is conducted in the UK and greatly increase the liability of technology companies handling personal data.
It is considering the Court of Appeal case Lloyd v Google LLC (2019), which involved a class action brought by an individual on behalf of around 4 million iPhone users. The claimants allege that Google used a so-called ‘Safari workaround’ to circumnavigate Apple’s privacy settings by tracking browsing activity without consent to deliver advertising.
The action is important for two reasons. First, it may clear the ground for ‘opt-out’ representative actions in data protection cases and in other areas, for example consumer credit law. This could enable an individual claimant to bring an action on behalf of millions – a type of collective action which is commonplace in the US but not (yet) in the UK.
Second, the scope for data protection liability may be considerably broadened. The Supreme Court is being asked to award damages for the loss of control of personal data, irrespective of whether claimants have suffered financial loss or distress. This follows the trend toward English common law providing greater protection for individual data rights, recognising the misuse of private information as a tortious action in its own right, i.e. Vidal-Hall v Google Inc (2015) and following the phone hacking cases which compensated victims for the loss of their right to control the use of private information, i.e. Gulati v MGN Ltd (2015).
Jul-Sep 2021 issue
Shoosmiths