Google’s standard promise to warn users before handing data to law enforcement only matters if the warning arrives first. In this case, the alleged failure to notify before disclosure means the usual privacy safeguard may have been stripped away at the exact moment a user needed it to contest the demand.
EFF says Google disclosed Amandla Thomas-Johnson’s subscriber data to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement without prior notice, then notified him after compliance. The complaint asks the California and New York attorneys general to investigate deceptive trade practices tied to Google’s long-running notice promise, which EFF says may have been broken repeatedly.
The practical risk is not just disclosure. If notice can be delayed until after compliance, users lose the chance to challenge overbroad or invalid government requests before their data leaves Google.