Clifford Chance

Is this the end of the road for data privacy class actions in the UK?

26 May 2023

In Andrew Prismall v Google UK Limited and Deepmind Technologies Limited and LCM Funding UK Limited [2023] EWHC 1169 (KB), Mrs Justice Heather Williams DBE granted an application to strike out and for summary judgment in the misuse of private information claim on the basis that the representative claim had no prospect of succeeding.

The future of representative actions for data privacy claims in England has been uncertain since the judgment of Lloyd (Respondent) v Google LLC (Appellant) [2021] UKSC 50 in 2021, with many such claims for breaches of data protection legislation being discontinued. The Prismall v Google judgment is the most recent decision highlighting the difficulties for claimants seeking to bring 'opt out' claims in relation to privacy through a representative action under CPR 19.8 (previously 19.6).

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