UK Privacy Class Action Against Google DeepMind Fails to Advance
A renewed attempt to pursue a class action-style privacy lawsuit against Google in the UK has been rejected. The Court of Appeal upheld a previous decision to dismiss the case, which involved the alleged misuse of health data from 1.6 million patients. The data was transferred to Google’s AI division, DeepMind, in 2015 as part of the development of an app. This arrangement with the NHS Trust was later found to violate UK data protection laws, but the affected individuals have not received financial compensation, only reputational harm.
In its ruling on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal reinforced the complexities of privacy class action lawsuits, citing the challenges seen in other similar cases, including the high-profile Lloyd v. Google case. The court noted that the hurdles of bringing a representative action for the misuse of private information had not been overcome in this case.
The economic viability of privacy litigation often relies on the ability to consolidate multiple individual claims into a single class action. However, proving that all individuals in the group share the same legal interests has proven difficult. This ruling highlights the growing challenges of pursuing privacy damages in an era where personal information is widely shared on social media platforms, making it harder to establish collective harm.
A renewed attempt to pursue a class action-style privacy lawsuit against Google in the UK has been rejected. The Court of Appeal upheld a previous decision to dismiss the case, which involved the alleged misuse of health data from 1.6 million patients. The data was transferred to Google’s AI division, DeepMind, in 2015 as part…