amicus Cookies cy pres Fraley v. Facebook Google
Group Asks Supreme Court to Weigh In on Fairness of Google Tracking Settlement
The Center for Class Action Fairness has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether a settlement that awards funds to certain organizations and fails to compensate injured class members is fair. The settlement involved Google's tracking of Internet users in violation of users' privacy settings but resulted in no change in business practices or payment to class members. Some of the organizations that received class settlement funds are separately funded by Google. EPIC recently filed an amicus brief opposing a similar settlement in a related class action against Google. EPIC has also opposed settlements against Facebook and Google that failed to compensate class members or change business practices. EPIC President Marc Rotenberg has proposed an objective basis to evaluate settlement proposals. The Supreme Court has yet to address cy pres fairness, but Chief Justice John Roberts, in Marek v. Lane concerning Facebook's Beacon program, echoed the concerns of EPIC when he wrote that the "vast majority of Beacon's victims" got nothing.
January 8, 2018| Share:
