Top UK court blocks legal action against Google over internet tracking

A ?3bn legal action against Google over claims it secretly tracked the internet activity of millions of iPhone users has been blocked by the UK supreme court.

Richard Lloyd, a former director of the consumer group Which?, wanted to bring a US-style class action lawsuit against the search engine on behalf of about 4.4 million people in England and Wales.

Lloyd and the campaign group Google You Owe Us hoped to sue the US-based company for damages equivalent to ?750 per person for alleged breaches of the Data Protection Act (DPA).

Emily Cox, the head of disputes at Stewarts law firm, said the ruling was a relief for big tech firms that handle the data of millions of people in England and Wales on a daily basis.

Google You Owe Us and Lloyd claimed Google bypassed privacy settings on Apple iPhone handsets between August 2011 and February 2012 and used the data gathered to divide people into categories for advertisers.