Google customers sue firm over new 'deceptive' privacy rules

Washington, Mar 22 (ANI): Three Google users have reportedly sued the search giant claiming they were deceived by its new privacy rules that combines user information across a number of company services.

The suit filed in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, which seeks class-action status, alleged that the Google deceived its users on what was going on when it combined privacy policies for about 60 products into one.

The complaint is filed by David Nisenbaum, Pedro Marti and Allison C. Weiss on behalf of Google and Android users who signed up for any Google user account from August 19, 2004, to February 29, 2012, and continued to use a Google account on or after March 1, 2012, when Google's new privacy policy went into effect.

According to The Los Angeles Times, the suit said Google's alleged deception took place because the privacy "change violates Google's prior privacy policies."

The complaint seeks financial damages and accuses Google of violating the Computer Fraud Abuse Act, the Federal Wiretap Act and the Stored Electronic Communications Act, the report said.

Meanwhile, Chris Gaither, a Google spokesman, said the company was declining to comment on the suit because it had not yet been served the complaint.

But in a blog post Google published ahead of the privacy change, the company said "our updated Privacy Policy makes our privacy practices easier to understand, and it reflects our desire to create a seamless experience for our signed-in users."

"We undertook the most extensive notification effort in Google's history, and we're continuing to offer choice and control over how people use our services," it added. (ANI)