Google and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) are in trouble. A group of survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s sexual abuse has filed a class-action lawsuit against the DOJ and Google, alleging that the government unlawfully released their personal information and Google’s AI-powered search tool continues to make it easily accessible to the public, causing renewed trauma and harassment.
The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of California federal court, centres on the DOJ’s release of over three million pages of Epstein-related files between December 2025 and January 2026. According to the complaint, the government failed to properly redact sensitive details, exposing the full names, phone numbers, email addresses, photographs, and cities of residence of approximately 100 survivors.
Lawyers accused the DOJ of prioritising “volume and speed of public disclosure over the safety and privacy of Epstein survivors.” They described the approach as a “release now, retract later” policy that made unlawful disclosures “not merely foreseeable, but inevitable.” The government later acknowledged the error and removed thousands of documents from its website, but the damage had already been done.
Google’s AI Mode keeps information accessible
The suit further claims that Google has compounded the harm by refusing to remove, de-index, or block the exposed information despite repeated requests from victims. Google’s AI Mode reportedly generates detailed responses when users search for Epstein-related queries, revealing survivors’ full names, contact details, and even providing clickable links for direct email contact.
One plaintiff stated that a search in Google’s AI Mode confirmed her association with Epstein and displayed her personal email address with a direct messaging link. Survivors report receiving unwanted calls, emails, threats to their physical safety, and accusations of conspiring with Epstein, despite being his victims.
Notably, other major AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity do not surface the victims’ personal information in similar queries, highlighting Google’s role in perpetuating the exposure through its indexing, caching, and AI-generation capabilities.
Renewed trauma and legal claims
The plaintiffs argue that the DOJ violated the Privacy Act through inadequate review and redaction procedures. They claim that Google is weaponising publicly available data via its powerful search and AI systems, making the information far more discoverable and harmful than the original government release.
“Survivors now face renewed trauma,” the complaint states. “Strangers call them, email them, threaten their physical safety, and accuse them of conspiring with Epstein when they are, in reality, Epstein’s victims.”
The class-action suit seeks damages of at least $1,000 per survivor from the DOJ and a court order compelling Google to immediately and permanently remove all related victim information from its search results and AI Mode.