Google class action trial ends with $425M verdict for cellphone users over app data tracking

Google app data class action overview:

• Who: A California federal jury sided with Google users in a class action lawsuit against the tech giant.
• Why: The jury found Google unlawfully collected information from 98 million cellphone users who asked the company not to track their app activity.
• Where: The Google app data class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

A California federal jury has ordered Google to pay more than $425 million in damages in a class action lawsuit alleging the company unlawfully collected information from 98 million cellphone users who asked it not to track their app activity.

The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for around 10 hours over a two-day period following a nearly three-week trial.

Plaintiffs Julian Santiago and Anibal Rodriguez argued Google unlawfully saved and used information about consumers’ activities on third-party apps even after the users opted out of tracking.

The plaintiffs represented nationwide classes of device users who swiped on a “supplemental Web & App Activity” privacy option offered by Google related to third-party app use between July 2016 and September 2024.

Jury finds Google liable for invasion of privacy

The jury found Google liable for invasion of privacy and intrusion upon seclusion, determining that the plaintiffs did not consent to having their data collected, according to a Law360 report.

The jury awarded $425,651,947 in compensatory damages but determined the plaintiffs had not proved they were entitled to disgorgement of Google’s profits related to the data collection. Google argued during the trial that the data collected after the privacy setting was activated is not tied to users’ identities.

The jury found Google had not violated California’s Computer Data Access and Fraud Act. This would require a finding that the conduct was serious in nature and scope, constituting an egregious and highly offensive breach of social norms.

The jury also determined the plaintiffs had not shown that Google engaged in unlawful conduct with malice, oppression or fraud, a finding that would have supported punitive damages.

The two plaintiffs filed the Google class action lawsuit in 2020 over claims Google collected and sold users’ personal data even after a privacy setting was activated on their devices.

Have you asked Google not to track your app activity? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by David Boies, Mark C. Mao, Beko Reblitz-Richardson, James W. Lee, Alison L. Anderson, M. Logan Wright and Samantha Parrish of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP; Bill Carmody, Shawn J. Rabin, Steven M. Shepard, Alexander P. Frawley and Amanda K. Bonn of Susman Godfrey LLP; and John A. Yanchunis, Ryan J. McGee and Michael F. Ram of Morgan & Morgan P.A.

The Google app data class action lawsuit is Rodriguez, et al. v. Google LLC, et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-04688, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

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