Judge Relates Privacy Class Actions Over Google Tracking Pixels in Tax Filings
A related privacy class action, Adams v. Google (docket 23-cv-04191) is consolidated with Smith v. Google, said a Thursday consolidation order (docket 5:23-cv-03527) signed by U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts in U.S. District Court for Northern California in San Jose.…
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Plaintiffs allege U.S. consumers have been transmitting sensitive financial information to Google when they file their taxes online on H&R Block, TaxAct and TaxSlayer (see 2307170033). Plaintiff Mary Smith of DuPage County, Illinois, alleges Google Analytics’ tracking pixel, embedded in the JavaScript of online tax preparation websites, sent “massive amounts” of her private tax return information such as income, refund amounts, filing status and scholarship information to Google, without her consent, “to improve its ad business and other business tools,” said her July complaint. Disclosing tax return information without consent “is a crime,” as are aiding and abetting the unlawful disclosure of tax return information and inspecting unlawfully obtained tax return information, it said. Pitts ordered plaintiffs’ counsel to file a consolidated complaint within 45 days; an initial case management conference in the consolidated matter is scheduled for Oct. 12, 1 p.m. PDT.