James Delahunty
16 Mar 2017 13:32
A federal judge has rejected a proposed settlement in a class-action lawsuit against Google over the scanning of e-mails.
Google serves ads to users of its Gmail service based on the contents of their e-mails, which has prompted questions from privacy and rights activists for years. However, while Gmail users may agree to agree to such usage of their data by Google, those who don't use Gmail clearly have not.
That is the at the core of the class action lawsuit against Google that it is seeking to settle. Plaintiffs argue that Google's scanning of e-mails sent by non-Gmail users to Gmail users violates the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act and California Invasion of Privacy Act.
Google presented a proposed settlement but it has been rejected by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California. It provided for up to $2.2 million in fees and expenses for the plaintiffs lawyers, but none for the plaintiffs. Judge Koh questioned whether the settlement would ensure Google's compliance with the law in the future.
Koh also found proposed disclosure notices to be inadequate, comparing to a similar accord with Yahoo that requires more disclosures.
"In sum, based on the parties' current filings, the court cannot conclude that the settlement is fundamentally fair, adequate, and reasonable," Koh wrote, reports Reuters.