On Friday, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a Notice of Appeal from Android users challenging Google’s alleged data collection for third-party apps when: Hammerling, et al v. Google, LLCConsumers have appealed the Northern District of California’s December 1 order dismissing the lawsuit.
On September 9, 2022, Google moved to dismiss plaintiffs’ amended complaint. The court says this is Google’s second motion to dismiss, and the court has granted the first dismissal, allowing the plaintiff to amend the complaint.
According to the court order, plaintiffs, in their amended complaint, again allege that Google secretly used consumers’ Android smartphones to collect data about their use of third-party apps. Plaintiffs allege that the practice provides Google with highly personal information about consumers in order to gain a competitive advantage.
In the amended complaint, the plaintiff alleges that, in addition to violating California’s unfair competition law, the court has previously filed claims for violations of common law under the California Constitution, breach of contract and implied contract, unjust enrichment and invasion of privacy. I have re-asserted the 10 dismissed claims. California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and California Infringement of Privacy Act.
In the order, the court said plaintiffs failed to remedy the deficiencies in the original complaint and dismissed all claims with prejudice. Regarding plaintiffs’ privacy claims, the court said plaintiffs failed to admit that the invasion of privacy was “extremely offensive” or that Google was able to learn content contained in third-party apps. I was. As to contract claims, the court held that plaintiffs cannot allege a promise that Google violated, and cannot allege an implied contract where an explicit contract already exists covering the same subject matter. did. Finally, the court also ruled that the California Unfair Competition Act claim was denied because plaintiffs failed to demonstrate fraud, misrepresentation, or negligence as Google was required to report under the Act. Did.
Plaintiffs have timely challenged the court’s order to the Ninth Circuit and expect to file a first opinion on April 10, 2023. Plaintiffs are represented by Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe and Lowey Dannenberg, and Google is represented by Keker, Van Nest & Peters LLP.