Google faces $3.2 billion lawsuit over use of children's data in U.K.

Alphabet Inc.'s Google faces a $3.2 billion lawsuit on behalf of more than five million British children under 13 and their parents over claims that YouTube routinely breaks privacy laws by tracking children online. The complaint, brought to the U.K.'s High Court by researcher and privacy advocate Duncan McCann, is backed by tech advocacy group Foxglove. It alleges YouTube systematically breaks underage user privacy regulations and data rules in both the U.K. Data Protection Act and Europe's General Data Protection Regulation by unlawfully harvesting the data of "millions of children" to target advertisements. "We think its unlawful because YouTube processes the data of every child who uses the service -- including kids under 13," Foxglove said. "They profit from this data, as they are paid by advertisers to place targeted advertising on their YouTube website. They do all this without getting explicit consent from the children's parents." A YouTube spokesperson declined comment, but said the video-sharing platform isn't meant for users under 13 years old. Read More...

Alphabet Inc.’s Google faces a $3.2 billion lawsuit on behalf of more than five million British children under 13 and their parents over claims that YouTube routinely breaks privacy laws by tracking children online. The complaint, brought to the U.K.’s High Court by researcher and privacy advocate Duncan McCann, is backed by tech advocacy group Foxglove. It alleges YouTube systematically breaks underage user privacy regulations and data rules in both the U.K. Data Protection Act and Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation by unlawfully harvesting the data of “millions of children” to target advertisements. “We think its unlawful because YouTube processes the data of every child who uses the service — including kids under 13,” Foxglove said. “They profit from this data, as they are paid by advertisers to place targeted advertising on their YouTube website. They do all this without getting explicit consent from the children’s parents.” A YouTube spokesperson declined comment, but said the video-sharing platform isn’t meant for users under 13 years old.