In re Google Assistant Privacy Litigation

Google LLC and its parent company Alphabet, Inc. (collectively, Google) (defendants) developed Google Assistant, which was a voice-activated assistant preloaded on Google Assistant Enabled Devices (GAEDs), such as Android smartphones and Google Home. Because Google Assistant was voice activated, it continually listened for certain activation words, such as “Hey Google.” Upon detecting activation words, Google Assistant started recording and analyzing a user’s audio to perform the requested functions. However, Google Assistant regularly misperceived other words as activation words, resulting in unknowing recording of a user’s audio, sometimes in the privacy of the user’s home. Although Google’s terms of service and privacy policy informed users that their audio might be recorded when using audio features, the documents did not expressly inform users that recording might be triggered by unintentional use of audio features. Multiple users who alleged to have been subjected to unknowing recordings (plaintiffs) filed putative-class-action suits against Google, which the federal district court consolidated into one case. The users claimed that Google kept and used the audio recordings without their consent to personalize advertisements targeted to users and improve Google Assistant’s voice-recognition capabilities. Among other things, the complaint asserted claims under state and federal law based on invasion of privacy, breach of contract, fraud, and breach of California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL). Google moved to dismiss the complaint.