In most cases, tech corporations do not run their operations smoothly. Since the organizations command a substantial market share, they are always under scrutiny for any missteps, which is what happened to search giant Google that has since been sued for a series of malpractices.
The American company was accused of poor handling of children’s data, Wi-Fi spying during the development of its Street View service, and age discrimination for job applicants who want to work with the company.
As of now, it has been reported that Google is in the process of settling the three lawsuits to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, which could be more if the number of people who took the matter to the courts were more.
According to ZDNet, the Wi-Fi spying case was filed nearly ten decades ago. Dubbed Wi-Spy, the accusation faulted Google for using vehicles that snapped images for Street View used in Google Maps. The cars are reported to have collected massive unencrypted Wi-Fi details, among other personal information from thousands of people across the globe. All this was done without the permission of the affected individuals.
The legal actions have seen Google agree to delete illegal Street View data from homes permanently. Google has also decided to settle the case for a measly $13 million that will be shared among a small team of lawyers and affected users.
Secondly, Google has agreed to settle a job discrimination suit that was filed by older applicants. It is alleged that Google favours employees who are under the age of 40, effectively cutting older job seekers. The case was filed by more than 200 applicants, although Google denied the allegations. The case will be settled for $11 million.
Lastly, Google’s video-sharing platform, YouTube was accused of mishandling children’s data, which is against privacy laws. The case is reportedly being settled, although no details have been shared about compensational dollar value.
