Google loses class-action lawsuit over privacy and must pay $425M

A federal jury in the United States has ordered Google to pay $425 million for violating users’ privacy. The search giant was accused of collecting data from millions of users, even after they had disabled a tracking feature in their Google accounts.

Five years ago, four Google account holders filed a class-action lawsuit against Google. They accused the tech company of unlawfully accessing their devices and data, even though they had disabled or paused Google’s activity controls called Web & App Activity, which Google uses to store all kinds of information about the use of websites and apps, as well as location data.

The Plaintiffs argued that Google illegally accessed their devices to collect, save, and use the data regarding their activity on non-Google apps that have incorporated certain Google software code into the applications, including apps from companies like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp.

For these data collection practices, the companies used Google software such as the Firebase Software Development Kit and the Google Mobile Ads Software Development Kit to collect personal information from its users.

The Plaintiffs deposed three claims: invasion of privacy, intrusion upon seclusion, and violation of the Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA).

For violating the privacy of millions of users for numerous years, the Plaintiffs had been seeking more than $31 billion in damages and demanded changes to Google’s practices.

At trial, Google argued that all of the collected data was “nonpersonal, pseudonymous, and stored in segregated, secured, and encrypted locations.” In other words, nobody’s privacy was violated because the data couldn’t be linked to individual Google account users.

The jury handling this case found Google liable for two out of three claims of privacy violations brought by the Plaintiffs. However, the jury ruled that Google had not acted with malice, meaning that the Plaintiffs aren’t entitled to any punitive damages.

David Boies, one of the Plaintiffs’ lawyers, said in a statement that his clients were “obviously very pleased with the verdict the jury returned.”

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda told Reuters that Google plans to appeal the jury’s ruling. “This decision misunderstands how our products work. Our privacy tools give people control over their data, and when they turn off personalization, we honor that choice,” he said in response.