Google Presses Judge To Throw Out Larceny Claim In Chrome Privacy Battle

Google is asking a federal judge to reconsider her recent decision allowing Chrome users to proceed with a claim that the company engaged in larceny by collecting their personal information -- including their IP addresses, identifiers stored on cookies, and data about web-browsing activity.

In papers filed Thursday, Google argues that U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose gave short shrift to its company's contention that the data at the heart of the battle -- IP addresses, identifiers and browsing history -- isn't considered property in California.

“The court did not consider -- or at least squarely address -- Google’s argument that the information plaintiffs allege Google stole is not their 'property' under California law because the information is not capable of 'exclusive possession or control' by plaintiffs,” the company writes.