Over 70 users of Apple products have started to build a case against Google for reportedly circumventing data protection and privacy laws. It is claimed that Google, between summer 2011 and spring 2012, bypassed Apple’s default privacy settings in order to allow tracking cookies to be installed on users’ computers, iPhones and iPads.

The Apple users have claimed that these cookies were used as part of Google DoubleClick’s advertising technology in order to push targeted marketing at consumers, based on the sites they visited and the landing pages they frequented.

The same issue was litigated in the US recently, where the US Federal Trade Commission found that Google’s actions in deliberately storing these cookies on users’ computers and devices breached US privacy laws. A record fine of $22.5m was imposed as a result, despite a statement from Google at the time that it had “collected no personal information”.

The UK market for Apple products, while not as large as the US market, is still a significant one with an estimated 10 million customers. In Ireland, the Data Protection Commissioner has recently commenced enforcing an EU cookies law which was introduced in 2011 . The outcome of the UK claims will be awaited with interest, both here and throughout the EU.

Contributed by John Magee