Google has been ordered to pay $425 million after a federal jury concluded the company improperly harvested data from users who had explicitly chosen to disable a tracking setting within their accounts.
The ruling follows a lengthy legal battle over whether Google respected users’ privacy choices under the “Web & App Activity” option.
The class action lawsuit, which dates back to 2020, alleged that despite user instructions to turn off tracking, Google continued to monitor activity through partnerships with widely used apps like Uber, Instagram, and Venmo.
These platforms, integrated with Google’s analytics tools, served as back channels for data collection.
The jury in San Francisco determined that Google violated privacy rights on two separate counts, though it found the company did not act with malice.
As a result, the judgment does not include punitive damages. Still, the verdict represents a major legal setback for one of the world’s most powerful data-driven businesses.
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda signaled the company’s intent to appeal, stating, “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.”
David Boies, attorney for the users, said in response that they were “obviously very pleased with the verdict the jury returned.”
According to the case, Google spent nearly a decade collecting data from users who had opted out of tracking, storing that information even as the company assured users they could control what was saved.
Google defended its practices during the trial, claiming the data was anonymized, encrypted, and separated from users’ personal identities or account information.
Despite those assertions, US District Judge Richard Seeborg certified the matter as a class action, ultimately covering tens of millions of users and well over 100 million devices.
This verdict is only the latest in a series of privacy-related legal troubles for Google.
In an earlier case, the company reached a nearly $1.4 billion settlement with the state of Texas over alleged violations of state-level privacy rules.
In another 2024 agreement, Google promised to wipe out billions of records related to what users believed were private browsing sessions, including those conducted in “Incognito” mode, as part of a settlement addressing similar concerns over unauthorized tracking.
The $425 million penalty may not match the $31 billion initially sought by plaintiffs, but the decision adds to growing legal and public pressure on the company to confront how it handles personal data, particularly when users have taken clear steps to protect their privacy.
