Google is being sued in response to its recent privacy policy update, which permits the scraping of data for artificial intelligence (AI) training purposes. The class action lawsuit, filed on July 11, claims that Google has misused vast amounts of data, including copyrighted material, without proper consent. The plaintiffs, representing millions of internet users and copyright holders, argue that Google’s actions violate privacy and property rights.
According to the lawsuit, Google’s revised privacy policy allows the company to utilize publicly available data for AI training. However, the plaintiffs assert that this not only infringes upon their rights but also grants Google an unfair advantage over competitors who lawfully acquire or purchase data for training AI models.
Ryan Clarkson, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, stated that Google must acknowledge that it does not have ownership of the internet, creative works, personal expressions, or any other content shared online. The lawsuit emphasizes that “publicly available” does not equate to “free to use for any purpose.”
The potential damages sought in the lawsuit exceed $5 billion, and the plaintiffs are requesting a court order that would compel Google to obtain explicit permission from users before collecting data. They also seek provisions for opting out of data collection, deleting existing data, and offering fair compensation to data owners.
This lawsuit comes in the wake of other legal challenges related to AI training. Comedian Sarah Silverman, along with two other authors, recently filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Meta, the creators of ChatGPT, for unauthorized use of copyrighted work during AI training. OpenAI itself faced another lawsuit for alleged data scraping.
In conclusion, Google’s updated privacy policy, allowing data scraping for AI training, has led to a class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs claim that Google infringed upon privacy and property rights by misusing publicly available data, including copyrighted material. They seek substantial damages and court orders to address Google’s data collection practices.