Google Lockbox “Secret Spying” Competition and Privacy Concerns Class Action

Google, LLC has access to a lot of customer data resulting from its control of the Android OS for smartphones. Specifically, the complaint for this class action alleges that Google has “an internal secret program” called Android Lockbox that lets it “spy on Android Smartphone users.” Google, the complaint claims, collects extensive personal data on users, without their consent and for purposes that it does not disclose to users.

The class for this action is all Android smartphone users from at least as early as January 1, 2014 through the present.

The Android OS runs a majority of smartphones around the world. Some 2.5 billion consumers reportedly use smartphones with the Android OS. The complaint alleges, “Google has abused its market position to gain an unfair advantage against its competitors in other industries, including social media platforms and applications such as TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.”

The Google Lockbox program, the complaint alleges, allows Google to collect sensitive personal information on users in real time.

It provides examples for these allegations: It says, for example, that Google can tell that a user is sick from data on the person’s interaction with telemedicine apps. If the person uses an alarm clock app, a fertility tracker, or a fitness app, it can learn about that person’s sleep schedule, menstrual cycle, or exercise routine. If the person uses a dating app, Google will determine that the person is single.

In 2019, Congress opened an investigation on competition in digital markets. The Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law of the Committee on the Judiciary collected documents, held hearings, and took testimony from companies’ CEOs, including Google’s Sundar Pichai.

The complaint alleges that this inquiry “found that Google’s collection and use of this sensitive personal data provides Google with unique insights on consumers and ‘near-perfect market intelligence.’ This information ultimately allows Google to track, monitor, and unfairly compete with potential and actual competitors.”

It quotes the Subcommittee as saying that “Google has used Android to entrench and extend its dominance in a host of ways that undermine competition.” One of the examples provided to support this assertion, the complaint says, is the creation of Google Lockbox.

The existence of Google Lockbox, and Google’s unannounced data collection with it, were only revealed to the public in a July 2020 article in The Information, the complaint alleges.

The anticompetitive aspects of this practice are one thing. But the complaint also expresses concerns about privacy, saying, “Google does not disclose, nor seek consent, to monitor, collect, or use Android Smartphone users’ sensitive personal data while using non-Google apps.” According to the complaint, “users are only vaguely told that Google will collect personal data ‘to offer a more personalized experience.’”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Antitrust, Privacy
Tags: Anticompetitive Actions, Your Privacy