Written by: Haim Ravia, Dotan Hammer
A federal district court in California has denied Google’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit alleging it violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA), whose section 631 is known as the Wiretapping Rule. The court found that Google’s technical capability to access call information and content, without receiving consent from all parties, may be unlawful wiretapping under that law.
The case focused on Google’s Cloud Contact Center AI (GCCCAI), a tool used by companies like Verizon, Hulu, GoDaddy, and Home Depot in the customer service center to enhance interactions by suggesting insights in real-time. GCCCAI implements speech recognition, natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning.
The plaintiffs, a group of consumers, filed a class action suit asserting that Google unlawfully accessed, transcribed, and analyzed their customer service calls without consent. The court found sufficient grounds to allege that Google acted as an unauthorized third party in these calls. The decision relied on the “capability test”, which holds software vendors liable if they technically can use collected data for their own benefit, even if they don’t. The court pointed to Google’s terms of service, which allows AI training on customer data with client approval, as proof of this capability.
This decision has broad implications for software providers. The court emphasized that business-to-business agreements alone are insufficient, and consumers must also consent. Companies may face wiretapping liability if they have the technical ability to exploit call data, even if contractually restricted.
Click here to read the court decision in Ambriz v. Google LLC (N.D. Cal., Case 3:23-cv-05437-RFL)
