Reuters reports: A federal judge on Thursday refused to dismiss most of a lawsuit against Google Inc over allegations the company improperly scanned the content of customers’ emails in order to place ads.
U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California ruled that the proposed class action lawsuit against Google can proceed. She rejected Google’s argument that its users had consented to having their email read for the purposes of targeted advertising.
“We’re disappointed in this decision and are considering our options,” Google spokesman Matt Kallman said in an email.
Litigation brought by nine plaintiffs, some Gmail users, some not, was consolidated before Koh earlier this year. The plaintiffs maintain Google violated several laws, including federal anti-wiretapping statutes by systematically crossing the “creepy line” to read private email messages in order to profit, according to court documents.
Great! I researched a sweatshirt for my brother, size XL, online — after which I was bombarded by a bunch of advertising for diet products and exercise equipment. I finally had to download one of those programs that blocks advertising. It works quite well.