A landmark legal case being brought against Microsoft and Google by Barings Law has now amassed more than 20,000 potential claimants.
The Manchester-based law firm began signing up clients in November last year following a two-year investigation into the alleged misuse of consumers’ personal data to train AI systems.
Google and Microsoft are accused of accessing stored information including users’ voices, location data, and images to develop large language model tools such as Google’s Gemini without proper consent from those users.
Court proceedings – which would be the first of their kind ever instigated in the UK – could begin as early as next week.
The firm reportedly put the tech giants on notice in March through official correspondence which set out their allegations.
Adnan Malik, head of data protection at Barings Law, said that this case sends a clear message. “This is another step forward in what will no doubt be a landmark British case against two US technology giants.
“The first month of our action saw 10,000 people sign up as claimants, and that number has now doubled, sending a clear message that abuse of their personal, private data will not be tolerated.”
Earlier this month, Microsoft launched a new feature as part of its flagship Copilot AI tool which takes repeated snapshots of users’ screen activity; labelled a ‘privacy nightmare’ by campaigners.
Google also recently introduced a new feature to its Gemini capabilities, allowing it to search through and identify private photos on users’ devices.
Thanks to new developments such as these, Malik warned that further cases involving the misuse of data would be inevitable. “This case may be the first of its kind in the UK, but it will not be the last,” he added.
“As global tech corporations continue to play fast and loose with their customers’ personal data, we have to be more vigorous than ever in demanding accountability and justice for everyone affected.”
Barings Law has handled a series of high-profile data breach cases, including ongoing proceedings concerning a 2023 cyber-attack on Capita, which saw hundreds of thousands have personal information compromised.
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