The law firm of Gallagher & Kennedy announces that shareholder Kevin Neal has been appointed as lead counsel to the Arizona Attorney General’s office lawsuit filed against Google’s location privacy practices in the State.
Arizona is suing Google for deceptive and unfair practices to obtain users’ location data, which Google then exploits for its lucrative advertising business. Under the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, Arizona can bring consumer-protection cases surrounding personal data against businesses that deceive users about their practices. The State seeks monetary relief up to and including forcing Google to disgorge gross receipts arising from its deceptive activities in Arizona along with civil penalties of up to $10,0000 per violation.
The lawsuit was filed by Arizona after a 2018 Associated Press investigation into Google’s tracking behavior. The investigation results found that many Google services on personal devices store time-stamped location data even if a user has turned off their location history setting. Arizona’s lawsuit could open the door to other states and the federal government to follow suit.
Kevin Neal is a formidable and proven trial advocate with more than 30 years of experience. He has a proven record representing other high-profile fraud actions, including the Health Net and Goodyear cases. Kevin is joined by associate Ken Ralston, who has worked with Kevin on the Health Net case and other high-profile matters.