by Brian H. Lam
In a proposed class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Google is facing a potential $5 billion dollar class action for alleged privacy law violations. The complaint alleges that millions of Google users have been impacted and asks for damages of at least $5,000 per harmed individual. Implicated are multiple Google offerings, including Google Analytics, Google Ad Manager, website plug-ins, and the Google Sign-In button leveraged by many websites. The ubiquity of these products and services is well known to many who participate in the online ecosystem. According to the complaint, over 70% of online websites and publishers use Google Analytics alone.