A US federal court has ordered Google to pay $425 million (£316.3m) after ruling that the company violated users’ privacy by collecting data even when tracking features were turned off.
The verdict stems from a class-action lawsuit filed in July 2020 on behalf of about 98 million users and 174 million devices. Plaintiffs accused Google of secretly accessing mobile devices to collect, store, and use personal data despite assurances provided through its Web & App Activity setting. They had sought more than $31 billion in damages.
Jurors found the company liable on two of three privacy claims but concluded it had not acted with malice. The lawsuit also alleged that Google’s practices extended to hundreds of thousands of apps, including Uber, Lyft, Amazon, Alibaba, Instagram, and Facebook.
In response, a Google spokesperson said: “This decision misunderstands how our products work, and we will appeal it. Our privacy tools give people control over their data, and when they turn off personalisation, we honour that choice.”
The company maintains that when Web & App Activity is disabled, businesses using Google Analytics may still collect usage data, but argues that the information does not identify individuals and respects privacy preferences.
The ruling comes in the same week Google’s parent company, Alphabet, recorded a share price surge of more than 9% after a separate decision in its favour. In that case, District Judge Amit Mehta ruled the firm will not be forced to sell its Chrome browser following a US Justice Department antitrust lawsuit, though Google must share search data with competitors and is barred from signing exclusive contracts.
Google also faces another antitrust battle over its advertising technology business. In April, District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that the company holds a monopoly in the sector and scheduled a remedies trial for later this month.
