Google is sued for £3.2BILLION for 'secretly collecting data from 4.4million iPhone users including race, health, politics and sexuality to divide people into categories for advertisers'

• Google is facing a mass legal action over claims it bypassed privacy settings
• The claim by Google You Owe Us is led by former Which? director Richard Lloyd
• It was claimed that Google collected data on users' physical and mental health

Google collected sensitive personal data from 4.4 million iPhone users and used it to divide people into categories for advertisers, the High Court has heard.

The tech giant is facing a mass legal action over claims that it bypassed privacy settings on Apple iPhone handsets between August 2011 and February 2012.

The litigation is being brought by campaign group Google You Owe Us, led by former Which? director Richard Lloyd.

At the first hearing of the case in London on Monday, lawyers for Mr Lloyd told the court information collected by Google included racial or ethnic origin, physical and mental heath, political affiliations or opinions, sexuality and sexual interests and social class.

Google collected sensitive personal data from 4.4 million iPhone users and used it to divide people into categories for advertisers, the High Court has heard

The litigation is being brought by campaign group Google You Owe Us, led by former Which? director Richard Lloyd

They said information about an individual's financial situation, shopping habits and their geographical location were also obtained.

Hugh Tomlinson QC, representing Mr Lloyd, said information was then 'aggregated' and users were put into groups such as 'football lovers' or 'current affairs enthusiasts'.

These were then offered to subscribing advertisers to choose from when deciding who to direct their marketing to.

Mr Tomlinson said the data was gathered through 'clandestine tracking and collation' of information relating to internet usage on iPhone users' Safari browser - known as the 'Safari Workaround'.

He told Mr Justice Warby the activity was exposed by a PhD researcher in 2012 and Google has already paid 39.5 million US dollars to settle claims in the USA.

Speaking ahead of the hearing, Mr Lloyd said: 'I believe that what Google did was quite simply against the law.

'Their actions have affected millions in England and Wales and we'll be asking the judge to ensure they are held to account in our courts.'