SPRINGFIELD — A class-action lawsuit filed by Android users over tracking software secretly installed on phones during the COVID-19 pandemic is on the verge being settled, after a motion hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court.
A lengthy agreement submitted by lawyers for the plaintiffs and attorneys for the state Department of Public Health has been filed to avert entering into a federal consent order.
The lawsuit was filed against the state by a handful of Android users who lived or worked in the Bay State during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The users objected to involuntary tracking software being repeatedly installed on their phones.
The goal of the “Mass Notify” software the state contracted with Google to create and install was to track users’ locations to quell the spread of the virus. Savvy users who noticed the app buried in their settings cried foul, which led to the lawsuit.
Peggy Little, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the class may ultimately number in the millions. but it’s hard to know. Moreover, the endeavor was a bust, she told Judge Mark G. Mastroianni.
“It was determined to be not useful and unhelpful,” Little said.
Little also noted that many other states used similar tracing software but only with users’ express consent.
Mastroianni previously rejected a move by the state to dismiss the case.
Once approved by the court, the settlement terms focus on identification and destruction of any data collected through the software, and formal certification by the state that such actions were taken.
A similar complaint was filed against Google in California and was settled on virtually the same terms.
Mastroianni remained skeptical throughout the hearing that any data collected by Big Tech companies can truly ever go away.
“What does destruction even mean?” the judge asked the attorneys.
Lawyers on both sides essentially said they would do their best due diligence and act in good faith to try to recapture all the data and destroy it. If a stray chunk of data from the app crops up later, a lawyer for DPH said they will notify plaintiffs’ attorneys and destroy those bits too.
The dialogue in the hearing among Mastroianni and the judge shined a light on the perils of galloping technology. Little described the voracious digital data consumption world as “dystopian” and “Orwellian.”
The judge agreed.
“Not long ago in our careers did we think we’d be using the words ‘dystopian’ and ‘Orwellian’ to describe the world we live in,” Mastroianni said. “But you’re right.”
Once the final settlement is reached, the plaintiffs will withdraw the claim pending any shows of noncompliance from the state.
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