Business

Goldman sues Google over ‘fat finger’ email mistake

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein is vying for a new title: cyberbully.

The Wall Street bank has sued Google to try and get the search giant to delete a sensitive e-mail sent in error to a Gmail account.

While the legal gambit failed, Google did block access to the errant e-mail, Goldman said on Wednesday, according to a report.

The e-mail contained “highly confidential brokerage account information,” Goldman said in its lawsuit, filed in Manhattan state court.

The legal move by Goldman and response by Google have sparked a conversation about who owns e-mails once they are sent and delivered, and who has the right to block access to them.

“Goldman is trying to transfer the risk of their mistake to Google, and I think that’s unfair,” said cyber security expert and San Diego University professor Lance Larson.

Goldman is asking Google to violate its users’ rights, according to Larson. If Goldman succeeds, it will set a bad precedent wherein anyone who sends an email they later regret can place the onus for that mistake on Google, Larson added.

In Google’s case, the errant e-mail was sent by an employee of a consulting firm. The e-mail was a copy of an internal report to an @gmail.com e-mail address instead of the @gs.com e-mail address that was supposed to receive the report.

After seeking to recover the e-mail and failing to do so, an executive with Goldman’s technology risk department spoke with a Google employee who said the e-mail could not be deleted without a court order.

Goldman sued the next day.

The bank is demanding an injunction to ensure that the e-mail is not accessed, claiming “risk of an invasion of privacy“ and “risk of unnecessary reputational harm.”

Google has agreed to block the e-mail, Reuters reported. Google declined to comment, and Goldman didn’t return a request for comment.