Awani Review

Complete News World

Google can pay you for your personal data

Google can pay you for your personal data

All Quebecers who have used the internet since 2017 can now hope to spend a few thousand dollars on Google, accusing them of getting rich on their backs.

• Read also: Google will remove data about clinic visits for abortions

• Read also: Personal data at stake after the right to abortion is revoked

The Quebec Supreme Court has just authorized a lawsuit brought by Option Consommateers against the giant – $76 billion in profits and $258 billion in revenue in 2021.

“We just won for the first time circular against a giant in a very important privacy dispute,” boasts the firing of Alexander Blurd, attorney and analyst at Option consommateurs (OC).

Silicon Valley is accused of not getting enough consent from internet users when their data is confiscated.

It is also accused of constantly tracking Internet users, whether they are on a Google-affiliated site or service or anywhere else online. “Our data backlog never stops, wherever you are on the Internet,” explains the OC’s attorney, who assigned Belleau Lapointe to represent the organization.

The dispute revolves around the value of this personal data.

Basically, the OC wants to return the entire value of personal data to the consumer. The organization is also seeking $50 million in punitive damages.

For comparison, Google generated $200 million in revenue per day in 2021.

In a June 28 ruling, Judge Donald Beeson invoked photo-right jurisprudence to establish the grounds for the case.

“When someone sees their image used for commercial purposes without their permission, they are not necessarily denied the ability to commercially use that image themselves,” he wrote.

See also  Florida: Lawsuit over chocolate that doesn't look like the picture on the package

Basically, when a car is stolen, we no longer have a car, but when our data is “stolen”, we still have an identity, as Alexander Blurd summarizes.

Therefore, it is based on the association with the image rights that the OC hopes to put into place for Silicon Valley giant K.-O.

All Quebecers who have used the internet since June 2017 are automatically members of the class action. Those who want to follow the progress of the file can register on the Belleau Lapointe website.

And even that, of course, Google will know.