A San Francisco jury has ordered Alphabet’s Google to pay $425 million for collecting data from users who had turned off a tracking feature in their accounts. The verdict follows a federal trial over allegations that Google accessed users’ mobile devices over an eight-year period, violating privacy assurances under its Web & App Activity setting.
The jury found Google liable on two of three claims but determined the company had not acted with malice, meaning no punitive damages were awarded. Users had sought more than $31 billion in damages. Google plans to appeal, stating that its privacy tools honor users’ choices and that collected data is pseudonymous and not linked to individual accounts.
The class action, filed in July 2020, covered approximately 98 million users and 174 million devices. It alleged Google continued data collection through apps like Uber, Venmo, and Instagram despite users disabling tracking. Google has faced other privacy lawsuits, including a $1.4 billion settlement with Texas and an earlier case requiring the destruction of data collected in “Incognito” mode.
Credit: CGTN
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