Google's parent company hid breech that compromised 52 million users' privacy
General Treasurer Seth Magaziner
announced the Rhode Island pension fund filed a motion with the court to
lead a shareholder class action lawsuit against Alphabet Inc., parent company
of Google, after it was revealed that Google executives had hidden privacy
breaches that compromised the personal information of 52.5 million users.
"Google had an obligation
to tell its users and investors that private information wasn't being
protected," said Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner.
"Instead, Google executives decided to hide the breaches from its users
and continued to mislead investors and federal regulators. This is an
unconscionable violation of public trust by Google, and we are seeking
financial restitution on behalf of the Rhode Island pension fund and other
investors."
The underlying action is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and accuses the company of misleading shareholders and federal regulators when they failed to disclose ongoing breaches in private user information from its social media platform Google+.
In October, Google announced it
was shutting down the Google+ social media platform, after whistle blowers came
forward with claims that the company had hidden vulnerabilities in its security
measures. On Monday, Google announced that personal information for 52.5
million users had been compromised.
The motion can be viewed
at: treasury.ri.gov/AlphabetLitigation