A British court cleared the way for folks to sue Google Friday, denying the web behemoth’s bid to block lawsuits by users who allege their privacy rights were violated.
The Internet giant was trying to prevent U.K. web surfers from suing over allegations Google gathered information about users without their consent, according to the BBC.
A group of Safari users accuses Google of bypassing privacy settings on Apple’s web browser for nine months spanning 2011 and 2012, tracking their Internet habits and logging demographic data for targeted ads.
Google argued it should not be sued because tracking did not inflict financial harm on any of the users.
The three-judge panel upheld the people’s right to sue for damages, citing “the anxiety and distress this intrusion upon autonomy has caused,” they said in their ruling.
“Ordinary computer users like me will now have the right to hold this giant to account before the courts for its unacceptable, immoral and unjust actions,” said Judith Vidal-Hall, who brought a case against Google.
The tech titan said it was “disappointed” by the decision.
Google had to pay for secretly tracking millions of U.S. web users in 2012, shelling out more than $22 million to the Federal Trade Commission in the largest fine the agency had ever issued against a company at the time.
