A group of 12 people in the UK are suing Google for tracking their browsing habits via Apple’s Safari browser, says The Telegraph. The case is being handled by a lawfirm called Olswang, which says that between the summer of 2011 and the spring of 2012, cookies in Safari were generating profiles of users without their knowledge, despite promises by Google and default settings in the browser. “Google has a responsibility to consumers and should be accountable for the trust placed in them. We hope that they will take this opportunity to give Safari users a proper explanation about what happened, to apologize and, where appropriate, compensate the victims of their intrusion,” says Olswang partner Dan Tench.
Late last year, Google was fined $22.5 million over the same issue in the US. That should give the UK case a solid footing, although it’s not a guarantee of success. Regardless, Google may choose to settle out of court to minimize costs.
