Good news for data controllers: Lloyd v Google Supreme Court decision
On 10 November 2021, the UK Supreme Court handed down the much anticipated judgment in Lloyd v Google LLC [2021] UKSC 50, unanimously allowing Google’s appeal and reversing the decision of the Court of Appeal.
In summary, the Supreme Court ruled that damages for “loss of control” are not available for breach of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA 1998), and that even if loss of control damages had been available, the claim could not be brought as a representative action as it would still have been necessary to assess the extent of the unlawful processing in each individual case.
The decision determines a number of issues that will have far reaching consequences for the future of data protection litigation, and the class action landscape in England & Wales more generally.
Click here to read our summary of the decision and our take on the implications.