A US tech company has filed a lawsuit against Google after it allegedly breached its privacy policy by allowing users to search for and share personal information.
The company is alleging that Google violated the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), a 1986 US law that allows consumers to request information from companies about what they’ve done with their personal information, when and where they have it.
According to the complaint, Google, which is based in Mountain View, California, violated ECPA by failing to provide information about its practices in order to help users find and share content.
The complaint was filed on Wednesday in a California federal court in San Jose, California.
The ECPA does not apply to social networking sites, where people can share information without any obligation to disclose it.
It’s unclear what kind of information Google had access to, but Google has a history of collecting personal information from users, including names, email addresses and browsing history.
It’s unclear whether the company will be able to enforce its claim, but it’s clear that this is a big one for Google.
The search giant has long been criticized for its privacy practices and its handling of user data, but this is the first time it has filed such a suit against the company.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which represents plaintiffs in the case, has previously defended Google’s privacy practices, saying it’s a great example of how the Internet can be a platform for democracy and freedom of expression.
The complaint was first reported by TechCrunch.