High Court: 'Google privacy case can be heard in UK' Google has vowed to fight the decision. A spokesperson said: "A case almost identical to this one was dismissed in its entirety three months ago in the US. We still don't think that this case meets the standards required in the UK for it to go to trial, and we'll be appealing today's ruling. If it stands, the ruling could set a precedent for other US internet firms with UK customers. Some firms, such as Facebook, provide services to UK users through European subsidiaries, so are already governed by UK laws. The group of complainants in the case, called Safari Users Against Google's Secret Tracking, claimed that Google tracked their browsing habits during the latter part of 2011 and early 2012, using the data to serve them targeted advertising. They claim that the company acted contrary to a 2009 amendment to an EU directive which requires consent before cookies are placed on a user's device for advertising purposes. They allege that the information was collected and sold to advertisers who used its DoubleClick advertising service. The test claim was brought by Judith Vidal-Hall, former editor of Index On Censorship magazine, Robert Hann, director of an IT security company, and Marc Bradshaw, director of an IT services company. Their spokesman Jonathan Hawker said as the case began: "People use the Safari browser for private browsing believing nobody else knew what they were doing. But Google tracked them and has caused embarrassment and distress. Google should not override their wishes for privacy. We want the case heard in the UK because this is where the damage was done. They have offices here, employ staff here and make money here. Why should these people have to go to California to make a claim? Antony White QC, speaking for Google, told the judge: "The conduct complained of came to an end in February 2012 and cannot now re-start. There is no risk of repetition or continuation. He also denied that any user suffered any economic loss. In August last year Google was fined £13.8m in the US after being found guilty of circumventing security settings on the iPad, iPhone, Mac and Safari browser in order to collect user data for advertising. They later paid out a further £10.5m to settle another claim.