Class Action Lawsuit Versus Oracle: Business behemoth Oracle is currently dealing with a new privacy class action lawsuit in the US. 

The lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in the Northern District of California as a 66-page complaint, accuses the tech giant and its adtech and advertising subsidiaries of violating the privacy of the vast majority of people across the world by asserting that their "worldwide surveillance machine" has gathered comprehensive dossiers on about five billion people.

Three class members are named in the lawsuit: Dr. Jennifer Golbeck, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland; Michael Katz-Lacabe, director of research at The Center for Human Rights and Privacy; and Dr. Johnny Ryan, senior fellow of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL). They say that they are “acting on behalf of worldwide Internet users who have been subject to Oracle’s privacy violations”.

They point out that the San Francisco-based law firm Lieff Cabraser, which represents the claimants, has successfully prosecuted key privacy lawsuits against Big Tech.

Class Action Lawsuit Versus Oracle: Shades Of Grey?

The crucial point is that the United States does not have a comprehensive federal privacy law, making it difficult for the litigation to present a privacy argument. As a result, the complaint makes numerous references to federal, constitutional, and state laws, alleging violations of the Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the California Constitution, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, as well as common law and competition law.

Also Read: Instagram And Facebook Are Stalking Your Web Activity Through Their Apps

It is unclear whether this "patchwork" approach to a complex legal situation will be successful; but, this entire thread is highly recommended for an expert's quick review of the case and several important issues. 

The complaint's main points, however, centre on claims that Oracle gathers enormous amounts of data from unaware Internet users, i.e. without their consent, uses this surveillance intelligence to profile people, further enriches profiles via its data marketplace, and gravely jeopardises their privacy, including, per the allegations, by using proxies for sensitive data to get around privacy controls.

Oracle has declined to comment on the case so far.

 

 

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