Google calls on UK court to throw out Safari snooping case

Data tracking

Google looks set to push ahead with its bid to get a privacy case brought against it by UK Apple users struck out of court today.

The search giant is being sued by a group of internet users for allegedly circumnavigating Apple's security controls and privacy settings to monitor their internet habits using the Safari browser.

It is thought this was done to deliver user-targeted advertisements to users.

We're asking the court to re-examine whether this case meets the standards required in the UK for a case like this to go to trial.

The group are being represented by UK law firm Olswang. It has been pursuing Google for damages, as well as an apology, for those affected.

Olswang predicted Google's move back in August, when it released a statement claiming the firm was planning to contest the rights of UK Apple users to bring a case against the firm in this country.

Instead, it was claimed the firm wanted the case heard in California and had filed legal documents stating it has no case to answer in the English court.

Judith Vidal-Hall, one of the claimant's in the case, blasted Google for expecting British consumers to pursue the case through the Californian courts.

"Google's preference that British consumers should travel all the way to California to seek redress for its wrongdoings is arrogant, immoral and disgrace," she said.

In a statement to IT Pro, a Google spokesperson confirmed the company was keen to establish if it has a case to answer in the UK.

"A case almost identical to this one was dismissed in its entirety two months ago in the US," the statement reads.

"We're asking the court to re-examine whether this case meets the standards required in the UK for a case like this to go to trial."

Caroline Donnelly is the news and analysis editor of IT Pro and its sister site Cloud Pro, and covers general news, as well as the storage, security, public sector, cloud and Microsoft beats. Caroline has been a member of the IT Pro/Cloud Pro team since March 2012, and has previously worked as a reporter at several B2B publications, including UK channel magazine CRN, and as features writer for local weekly newspaper, The Slough and Windsor Observer. She studied Medical Biochemistry at the University of Leicester and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism at PMA Training in 2006.