More than 20,000 claimants have now joined a landmark legal case being brought by Manchester-based Barings Law against tech giants Microsoft and Google over the alleged misuse of personal data to train artificial intelligence systems.
The firm began signing up claimants in November 2024, following a two-year investigation into claims that the companies unlawfully accessed stored user data – including voices, images, and location information – to help build large language model (LLM) tools such as Google’s Gemini, without proper consent.
Barings Law formally served notice to both companies last month, detailing the allegations. If court proceedings begin as expected, they would mark the first UK case of its kind involving AI data practices.
Adnan Malik, Head of Data Protection at Barings Law, said: “This is another step forward in what will no doubt be a landmark British case against two US technology giants.
The first month of our action saw 10,000 people sign up as claimants, and that number has now doubled, sending a clear message that abuse of their personal, private data will not be tolerated.
“Our expert team at Barings Law has a proven track record in remedying significant and damaging data breaches, and we will continue to stand up for the privacy of all users.”
The law firm is also involved in a major case relating to the 2023 Capita cyber-attack, which exposed the personal data of hundreds of thousands of people.
The latest surge in claimants comes amid growing public concern about AI-related privacy issues. Earlier this month, Microsoft introduced a controversial new Copilot feature that captures repeated snapshots of users’ screens – a move campaigners have called a “privacy nightmare”. At the same time, Google’s Gemini has expanded its capabilities to search and identify private photos on users’ devices.
Malik warned that more legal action could follow. “This case may be the first of its kind in the UK, but it will not be the last,” he warned. “As global tech corporations continue to play fast and loose with their customers’ personal data, we have to be more vigorous than ever in demanding accountability and justice for everyone affected.”
