Lobby group sues Google over privacy
Technology giant company Google has been sued over alleged privacy violations by illegally tracking Android users and collecting personal information such as face photos of Internet consumers.
In the class-action lawsuit filed by African Centre for Corrective and Preventive Action (ACCPA) organisation together with 31 Google users who utilise its mobile applications on Android platform. The matter was filed at the Milimani High Court Constitutional and Human Rights Division where the big tech firm has been accused of breaching Kenya’s data protection laws by illegally invading the privacy of users and collecting the users’ biometric information like photos to train their facial recognition technology, voices, videos and messages.
Continued infringement
Through lawyer Karugu Mbugua, the petitioners now want orders preventing continued infringement and violation to the right to privacy of android users.
In the lawsuit, they have sued Google Kenya Ltd alongside the Attorney-General, Cabinet Secretary Ministry of ICT, the Data Commissioner and Communication Authority of Kenya.
According to the petitioners, Google, through the Global Positioning System (GPS), “is aptly able to track the movement of Android users without their explicit consent”.
The internet search company is also being accused of collecting, processing and storing facial recognition information and personal information of users through Google Photos without the petitioner’s knowledge and consent.
The Claimants allege that Google’s cloud-based platform, The Google Photos app, which comes preinstalled on all Google Android devices is by default set to automatically upload and store all photos taken by the Android device user.
Further they contend that the personal data collected from the data subjects is also shared with third parties.
Seeking damages
The claimants are seeking damages for the alleged breach of privacy and a declaration that the lawsuit is a “public interest case”.
The lobby group together with the 31 petitioners also seeks a declaration from the court that Google’s actions contravene provisions of Article 31 of the country’s Constitution.
The said provision says that “every person has the right to privacy, which includes the right not to have their person, home or property searched, their possessions seized, information relating to their family or private affairs unnecessarily required or revealed; or the privacy of their communications infringed”.
The claimants have trained their attack on Google Search Engine, Gmail, mobile and computer applications like Google maps and Google Photos on which users upload their data including messages, photos, videos and audio recordings.
“Once the personal data is uploaded and specifically on Google Photos on google android devices, the photos are subjected to an artificial intelligence (AI) which analyses unique points and contours (i.e biometric identifiers) of each individual face. Then it uses the data to create and store a template of each face without informing the user of this practice,” says the claimants.
They allege that the personal data from non-users and who have not subscribed or downloaded Google Photos App on their devices is also subjected to the above process without their knowledge and consent.
It is alleged that the AI is able to scan and identify the face of its specific user and store the data in a “face template database”.
“These unique face templates are also used to recognise individual’s their gender, age and location. Google has a set of functions and procedures allowing the creation of applications that access the features or data of an operating system where third parties can access personal data stored,” says the claimants.
They want the court to issued interim orders baring Google from continuing to subject the data uploaded by users to an Artificial Intelligence(AI) and characterising and or grouping the resultant information pending the hearing and determination of the lawsuit.
Further, the petitioners also seek orders allowing them to place an advert of the lawsuit in a local newspaper to enable other affected Google users to be enjoined in the petition on grounds that the suit is of great public interest and affects over 22 million Kenyans who are users of Android mobile platforms.
“Pending the hearing and determination this application the court be pleased to issue an order stopping Google from continued location tracking of Android platforms users which tracking is done without the users’ explicit consent,” seeks the petitioners.
