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The repercussions preserve rolling in from the Wall Street Journal’s expose that detailed how Google was bypassing the default privacy settings onApple’s Safari browser in order to location tracking cookies that followed users around the net. Matthew Soble, an Illinois resident, has filed suit against Google in federal court in Delaware and is searching for class action status, reports Bloomberg.
Soble’s lawyers assert that Google knowingly violated federal wiretapping laws by placing these cookies in the browser of Safari users who believed that their setting blocked this type of marketing technology.
“The Journal mischaracterizes what occurred and why. We utilised known Safari functionality to offer capabilities that signed-in Google users had enabled. It is important to tension that these marketing cookies do not collect individual data,” Rachel Whetstone, a senior vice president of communications and public policy at Google, told VentureBeat by e-mail. “Unlike other major browsers, Apple’s Safari browser blocks third-party cookies by default. However, Safari enables many web features for its users that rely on third parties and third-party cookies, such as “Like” buttons. Last year, we began making use of this functionality to allow capabilities for signed-in Google users on Safari who had opted to see personalized ads and other content material–such as the capability to “+1” items that interest them.”
The search giant’s position is that they were just attempting to see if users were currently signed in with their Google account so they could use the +1 button with logging in again. But in carrying out so, the business also placed marketing cookies. “We didn’t anticipate that this would happen, and we have now started removing these advertising cookies from Safari browsers. It’s important to stress that, just as on other browsers, these advertising cookies do not collect private information,” Whetstone stated.
 
Filed under: security, VentureBeat 
