The 'default chat settings' that may hurt Google in antitrust case

Google employees' attempts to conceal potentially damaging communications could backfire in the company's ongoing antitrust trial, according to recent court proceedings. The Department of Justice (DOJ) is alleging that Google deliberately destroyed evidence that might have been unfavourable to its case.

In a Virginia court , DOJ lawyers have presented evidence suggesting that Google staff frequently labelled emails as "privileged and confidential" and conducted "off the record" chat conversations, even after being instructed to preserve their communications for investigators.

According to The Verge, this strategy may prove detrimental if the presiding judge determines that Google intentionally destroyed evidence. The consequences could be severe, potentially leading to an adverse inference about Google's missing documents, effectively assuming they would have been damaging to Google's defence.

Court documents revealed that Google executives routinely marked business discussions as "privileged and confidential," sometimes including a member of Google's legal team in the conversation. Chris LaSala , a former Google sell-side ad executive, testified that Google's chat messages had history turned off by default, requiring manual adjustment for each substantive work conversation.

The Verge reports that multiple former Google employees admitted to never changing this default setting, despite occasionally having important business discussions via chat. LaSala acknowledged instructing colleagues to "start a ping with history turned off" for sensitive topics.

Google's awareness of potential legal scrutiny is evident in their "Communicate with Care" legal training for employees. A 2019 email from a Google executive reminded colleagues to be cautious with their language, stating, "We should assume that every document (and email) we generate will likely be seen by regulators."

While Google claims to take its document preservation obligations seriously, the company's practices have raised concerns. The judge in Google's previous antitrust case involving its search business warned that the company might not be "so lucky" in future cases regarding its failure to preserve chat evidence.