Google sued over illegally tapping user data from iPhones

Consumer group "Google You Owe Us" has started a class action against Google alleging the search giant illegally gathered personal information from more than five million iPhone users to target them with more relevant ads.

The alleged violation of privacy settings took place as a part of saga known as 'Safari Workaround.' Google is accused of tweaking methods to bypass Safari browser settings to gain access to cookies in order to push relevant ads to the iPhone users.

Google is estimated to be charged for violating privacy of approximately 5.4 million consumers and will have to agree to a bill of around $3.3 billion.

Richard Lloyd, executive director and Government adviser, as well as one of the leaders in the anti-Google class action, says Google has violated Section 4 of the Data Protection Act 1998 and will have to settle the compensation to the customers according to Section 13.

If the class action is approved, users will be asked to fill an online form to become eligible for compensation as part of the lawsuit, he adds.

"I believe that what Google did was quite simply against the law. Their actions have affected millions, and we'll be asking the courts to remedy this major breach of trust. Through this action, we will send a strong message to Google and other tech giants in Silicon Valley that we're not afraid to fight back if our laws are broken," he said.

"I want to spread the word about our claim. Google owes all of those affected fairness, trust and money. By joining together, we can show Google that they can't get away with taking our data without our consent, and that no matter how large and powerful they are, nobody is above the law."

While Google is yet to issue an official statement on the matter, this isn't the first time the company has been sued over the Safari Workaround. Back in March 2015, the UK Court of Appeal decided that users had the right to against Google for accumulating information without their consent.

Google is turn said that it was 'disappointed with the court's decision,' and there's a chance that the new class action would get a green signal as well.