A federal judge wants to investigate Google over deleted internal chats\u060c<\/p>\n
If you dream of running a major tech giant, that's no problem, but remember you'll be a regular at the courthouse. That being said, it's time to talk about Google's latest encounter with the law.<\/p>\n
Federal Judge James Donato plans to take an in-depth look at Google and the company could face investigation over the deletion of its chat history (via Android titles<\/a>). This follows Google's recent legal adventures over allegations of monopoly in the search market and the ongoing dispute with Epic (here the companies are fighting over the question of competition in the Play Store). <\/p>\n In both lawsuits, testimony revealed that Google employees \u2014 you can also count CEO Sundar Pichai \u2014 voluntarily enabled an \u201cauto-delete\u201d option for internal discussions. It was suggested that the aim was to keep the information as evidence out of a courtroom.<\/p>\n Judge Donato calls Google's act of destroying evidence “a frontal attack on the fair administration of justice” and that it “undermines due process” and says he plans to pursue the case in outside the bounds of the particular lawsuit against Epic.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to get to the bottom of this to find out who\u2019s responsible,\u201d Donato said, referring to Google\u2019s actions. <\/p>\n Currently, Judge Donato is trying to bring Google and Epic to the table to discuss \u201cpotential settlements\u201d \u2013 something neither company has tried to do so far. Judge Donato's orders mean that Google and Epic will have to talk to each other and try to find something close to an agreement.<\/p>\n