Google faces class action lawsuits alleging it shared user data with Chinese-affiliated companies in violation of federal bulk data rules

Four class action lawsuits filed in the Northern District of California accuse Google of sharing user data with Chinese-affiliated entities including a ByteDance affiliate and Temu owner PDD Holdings, in violation of the Justice Department's Bulk Sensitive Data Rule, which prohibits transferring large volumes of personal data to China and other countries of concern. The suits allege Google tracks users across browsers and devices to create digital identifiers linked to IP addresses that are shared with advertisers without meaningful consent, giving rise to claims under the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act. Google is not the first tech company targeted under the rule — similar lawsuits against Microsoft and Lenovo remain pending — and legal experts expect both private class actions and government enforcement to increase as the administration focuses on data as a national security issue.