Google is being sued in the High Court for allegedly breaching the data privacy of over 4 million iPhone users in the UK. If Google were to lose the lawsuit, it could be forced to pay as much as £3.2 billion in damages.

Google You Owe Us filed the lawsuit in July and accused the Silicon Valley giant of violating their privacy from 2011 to 2012 through the “Safari Workaround” – a process that involved collecting people’s information by circumventing the iPhone’s privacy settings.

The action is being led by former Which? Director, Richard Lloyd, who claims Google used this method to gain better understanding of users’ browsing patterns for advertising purposes.

The Safari Workaround

The Safari browser app on the Apple iPhone has default privacy settings, however it is alleged that Google was able to bypass these settings and collect browser data without people’s consent. The “Workaround” was first discovered by researchers at Stanford University in 2012 and is said to have allowed the company to collect detailed personal information on users location, race, political beliefs, spending habits and financial data. The information was then allegedly used to divide users into different groups and categories to provide better tailored advertising.

Google legally collects immense amounts of user data to provide highly tailored advertising, making huge profits as a result. In 2016, the company earned $80 billion from advertising alone. On this occasion, however, it is alleged the company’s actions were illegal; bypassing privacy settings without the user knowing.

After these revelations the company agreed to pay $17 million as part of a settlement a year later. In addition to the initial fine, Google also agreed to pay a $22.5 million fine from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over its clandestine data tracking processes.

Google Suggests Case Should be Dismissed

Meeting in the High Court on Monday, the US-based company insisted that the case be dismissed. Tom Price, Google UK’s Communications Director responded to the court case with a statement that said: “This case relates to events that took place over six years ago and that we addressed at the time. We believe it has no merit and should be dismissed.”

“We’ve filed evidence in support of that view and look forward to making our case in Court.”

Google is contesting the case as it claims the actions being brought against it by Lloyd cannot realistically be remedied. The firm said it is impossible to identify precisely who may have been affected and that any compensatory actions would be unsuccessful.

Additionally, lawyers representing the company said there is no evidence to suggest the Safari Workaround could have resulted in information being sent to third-party organisations.