US top court jeopardises Google settlement in Internet privacy case

FILE PHOTO: Workers move a Google logo during the opening of the new Alphabet's Google Berlin office in Berlin, Germany, January 22, 2019. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke/File Photo

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on March 20 put in jeopardy an US$8.5mil (RM34.51mil) settlement Google made with users to resolve a class action lawsuit accusing it of violating their privacy by sharing users' search queries with other websites.

The justices, in an unsigned opinion, threw out a ruling by the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that had upheld the settlement, directing it to take a fresh look at whether the plaintiffs had the legal standing necessary to sue and whether they were even harmed by the search engine operator.