Google Case Alleging Violation of Kids’ Privacy to Continue, Judge Rules
A federal judge in California ruled Monday that a case against Google will continue, and the search engine must face claims that it tracked children’s YouTube activity to show them targeted ads, in violation of their privacy.
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Google in August had moved to dismiss the case on the grounds that the plaintiffs didn't state any privacy claims nor allege cognizable loss to support claims of consumer protection.
The court, however, also denied parts of the motion, dismissing the complaint’s unjust-enrichment claims, consumer-protection claims under certain states and claims against the particular YouTube channel orders. A joint case-management statement is due by Feb. 4, and the remaining parties in the action will appear in a case-management conference Feb. 11, according to the court order.
The case, 19-07016, began in October 2019 when Nichole Hubbard filed a complaint against Google alleging that the search engine, which operates the video-sharing platform YouTube, collected personal data and information of users, including minors, of the site and used it to deliver targeted ads in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), California privacy laws and other similar state laws.
Google filed a motion to dismiss the case in January 2020 on the grounds that no private right of action exists under COPPA, among other things. Judge Beth Labson Freeman of the U.S. District Court of Northern California dismissed the case in December 2020, stating the plaintiffs could not sue for violations of COPPA under state law.
But the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated the case in 2023, and plaintiffs filed another amended complaint in July 2024 with the district court. Google filed its motion to dismiss in October, which the judge denied in part and granted in part Monday.