Google–Safari case
On August 8, 2012, the United States filed a complaint ("Safari complaint") against Google Inc., alleging that it had violated the consent order which it had entered into with the FTC, (to settle the above-mentioned Google Buzz case). The government's complaint stems from a page on Google's website that tells Safari browser users "that Safari's default operation is to deny what are called third-party cookies, which can be used to track users. At the time they wrote it, this statement was true, but Apple later changed the behavior of Safari to allow third-party cookies from sites that had previously served cookies to the user."[9]
The Safari complaint stated that Google used "the 'DoubleClick Advertising Cookie' to collect information and serve targeted advertisement services to users who visit Google websites, Google partner websites, and websites that use Google's advertising services."[10] As part of Google's advertising privacy controls, Google offered to its users the possibility of "opting out" from the delivery of targeted advertising. As stated in the Safari complaint, "A user may opt out of targeted advertising either by clicking a button on Google's Ads Preferences webpage ('opt-out button') or by downloading Google's 'advertising cookie opt-out plug in.[11] This "opt-out cookie" technology (also referred to as the "DoubleClick opt-out cookie") was available to users of only three browsers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome. Since the opt-out extension was not available for the Safari browser, Google assured Safari's users that they need not take any action "to be opted out of DoubleClick targeted advertisements". According to Google's representation, Safari blocked by default (although allowed in certain exceptional circumstances) third-party cookies, and said blocking was enough to prevent Google from placing tracking cookies or serve targeted advertisements; however even when Safari users had activated the default privacy settings, they received tracking cookies and targeted advertisements.[10]
The government alleged that "despite its representations to Safari users, Google overrode the Safari default browser setting and placed the DoubleClick Advertising Cookie on Safari browsers." Google's conduct overrode Safari software that blocked cookies, by sending code that was invisible to the user to communicate with that user's Safari browser anytime that a Safari user visited a "Google website, Google partner website, or website that used Google's advertising services."[10] This allowed Google to store, collect, and transmit the users information.
In view of Google's conduct, the complaint addressed five relevant causes of action: (i) collecting covered information, (ii) serving targeted advertisements, (iii) misrepresenting Network Advertising Initiative Code compliance, (iv) civil penalties, and (v) prayer for relief.[10] Furthermore, the government alleged that Google's conduct violated the October 2011 (Google Buzz) order.
