UK watchdog intervenes in Google case

The UK’s privacy watchdog has made an unusual last-minute intervention in a case that pits Google against three Internet users who are accusing the US technology group of secretly tracking their browsing habits and breaching their data protection rights.

The High Court permitted them to bring their claim in the UK courts rather than in California, where Google is based. The company has gone to the Court of Appeal to seek to overturn this ruling. The Information Commissioner, which regulates Internet companies and the use of private data, has intervened in the case as an interested third party, arguing that parts of the case raise issues about data protection laws. The case is significant because it touches on growing concern about online privacy and how personal internet data are protected. The Internet users allege that Google tracked and collated information relating to their Internet use in 2011-12 without their knowledge.