Search engine company Google told the UK High Court that it is not bound by UK privacy laws as it was a US company, after it was accused by privacy campaigners of illegally tracking users online.
A group of Britons is planning to take legal action over the way it skirted settings on the iPhone to collect their personal information.
The company has told the UK High Court that it is not subject to UK privacy laws because it is a US company.
Google has already been penalised $22.5m (£14.4m) by the United States authorities over the practice.
According to the claimants, it showed Google’s policies "don’t respect" British privacy laws.
Claimant Marc Bradshaw said: "It seems absurd to suggest that consumers can’t bring a claim against a company which is operating in the UK and is even constructing a $1bn headquarters in London."
Another claimant Judith Vidal-Hall said, "Google’s position on the law is the same as its position on tax: they will only play or pay on their home turf."
Big Brother Watch, a British civil liberties and privacy pressure group, director Nick Pickles said, "It is deeply worrying for a company with millions of British users to be brazenly saying they do not regard themselves bound by UK law."
In July, the UK’s data protection regulator the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is said to have told Google that the company’s privacy policy violates the UK data protection act.
Although the ICO can fine Google, the maximum fine it can demand is £500,000, which has left the plaintiffs unhappy.
