The UK Supreme Court has handed down its decision in Lloyd v Google and blocked a multi-million-pound lawsuit brought by Richard Lloyd, a former director of consumer rights group Which?, against tech giant Google. The case related to search-engine data collected by Google and whether consumers had suffered damage and could claim compensation.

Matthew Fell, chief policy director at the Confederation of British Industry, said: “The CBI welcomes this decision. Data is at the heart of modern business operations in sectors from logistics to financial services, and firms know how they treat customers’ data has a real impact on trust in technology.

“Introducing a US-style class action could have put a chill on investment and a detrimental impact on firms across the economy without improving access to justice for the majority of consumers.”

David Cran, partner and head of tech at law firm RPC, added: “The Supreme Court's judgment will be warmly welcomed by the insurance market, which following the Court of Appeal’s judgment, was exposed to very significant potential liability arising from data claims, even if no specific damage was shown to have been suffered by any individual.

“The Supreme Court's judgment has firmly rejected the basis of this class action and many others that were waiting in the wings: it is likely to have a very significant impact on UK industry across many different sectors that handle customer data, as well as the UK legal market, including claimant firms, litigation funders and after the event insurers.”

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