Caroline Harbord and Nick Owen consider the new precedent on data law
Large data controllers will breathe a huge sigh of relief following the Supreme Court’s decision to refuse Richard Lloyd permission to serve a £3bn representative claim on Google in Delaware.
The decision is undoubtedly a setback in the developing field of “opt-out” data protection group claims – and the alternative “bifurcated approach” suggested by the Supreme Court raises many practical difficulties which could ultimately render it unviable.
However, the complex judgment includes some interesting nuggets about the judicial approach to data protection claims and to representative actions more generally. While the door for such claims has not been opened in the way that some (includi...
