Google Loses Key Privacy Case In UK

A judgment against Google by the English Court of Appeal “has confirmed that English law recognizes an action for the misuse of private information,” write attorneys from Sidley & Austin, calling it a landmark decision. The court made clear that damage claims can be made for distress, even where there is no claim of financial loss. At issue was the collection of information from Safari browser users, allegedly without their consent. “With the Court of Appeal finding that there is a standalone right to bring a claim for privacy and the viability of claims for non-financial loss, privacy claims and litigation in the UK and more broadly in the EU may show significant growth,” the attorneys write. “The Court rejected Google’s argument that the allegations were not serious enough, nor the claimed damages significant enough, to warrant the Court’s intervention.”