A US court has sanctioned Google for a second time in recent days, after a judge in a decision unsealed on Wednesday said the Alphabet unit took too long to comply with a ruling last year in a data-privacy class action.
The order from US Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen in San
Jose, California, stems from a class action claiming Google unlawfully tracked
its users while they were using the company's Chrome browsers in private, or
"incognito," mode.
In a separate decision on Tuesday in California, US District
Judge James Donato concluded Google had failed to preserve employees'
"chat" records as evidence in antitrust litigation. Donato said the
plaintiffs' lawyers will be awarded legal fees in an amount to be determined
later. Google is challenging the claims.
In the data privacy case, Google has said its Chrome browser
users consented to the company's data collection. A Google spokesperson said
the company has “provided and disclosed countless documents and
discovery."
The sanction in the data privacy action is not the first
time Van Keulen has punished Google in the same case.
The latest ruling said Google failed to comply with a
deadline stemming from a court order last year that imposed sanctions on the
company. The new sanctions order and the prior one from May 2022 addressed
internal Google evidence concerning consumer use of the company's private
browsing mode.
Google, according to the judge's order, will be barred from
relying on certain employee witnesses in the case. Van Keulen also said Google
must pay fees associated with two experts working for the plaintiffs, and must
also pay a $79,000 fine.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to a
message seeking comment.
The consumer plaintiffs are suing for an injunction that could among other things could require Google to delete private browsing information. A trial is scheduled for November © Reuters