Clifford Chance

Lloyd v Google: How the supreme court judgment closed the door on Lloyd's £3.3bn data claim

11 November 2021

In a landmark case, Lloyd (Respondent) v Google LLC (Appellant) [2021] UKSC 50 ("Lloyd"), the Supreme Court has ruled that claimants can only obtain compensation for breaches of their statutory data privacy rights if they can evidence material damage or distress – loss of control of personal data alone is not sufficient.

The case is likely to have implications for other class action-style claims against companies accused of breaching data privacy law. However, a focus on claims where actual damage has been suffered is the right outcome for all businesses, and not just for big Tech.

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