Google ordered to pay $425 million in landmark U.S. privacy lawsuit
The verdict, delivered on Wednesday, followed a trial over claims that Google accessed user data for nearly eight years, despite assurances that its Web & App Activity setting would prevent such tracking.
ADVERTISEMENT
Alphabet-owned Google has been ordered to pay $425 million after a federal jury in San Francisco determined the company violated user privacy by continuing to collect data even when tracking settings were turned off, Reuters reported.
The verdict, delivered on Wednesday, followed a trial over claims that Google accessed user data for nearly eight years, despite assurances that its Web & App Activity setting would prevent such tracking.
Users in the class action lawsuit had sought more than $31 billion in damages.
The jury ruled Google liable on two or three privacy violation claims but found the company had not acted with malice, ruling out punitive damages. The case covers an estimated 98 million Google users and 174 million devices.
Google has vowed to appeal, Spokesperson Jose Castaneda said in the report, "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."
The lawsuit, filed in July 2020, alleged Google collected data via partnerships with apps such as Uber, Venmo, and Instagram, which used Google's analytics services.
During trial, Google maintained that the information was "nonpersonal, pseudonymous, and stored in secured, encrypted locations," insisting it could not be tied back to individual users.
This is not Google's first privacy-related penalty. Earlier this year, the company agreed to pay $1.4 billion in Texas over state privacy law violations. In April 2024, Google also consented to delete billions of private browsing records after accusations of tracking users in "incognito" mode, the report added.
