San Francisco: A U.S. federal jury has ordered Google to pay $425 million in damages for violating the privacy of nearly 100 million users, ruling that the tech giant continued collecting app usage data even after users had opted out.
The verdict, handed down by a San Francisco jury on Wednesday, follows a class-action lawsuit filed in July 2020. Plaintiffs claimed that despite disabling the "Web & App Activity" tracking feature in their Google accounts, the company continued to harvest data from third-party apps — a practice they said breached Google's own privacy assurances.
According to court documents, Google allegedly collected and monetized users' mobile app activity in ways that contradicted its publicly stated data protection policies. The affected users numbered around 98 million.
Google has denied any wrongdoing and announced plans to appeal the decision.
“Our privacy tools give people control over their data, and when they turn off personalization, we honor that choice,” said Google spokesperson José Castaneda in a statement. “We believe the court’s decision misunderstands how our products work.”
During the trial, Google maintained that the data it collected was “nonpersonal” and “pseudonymous,” stored securely in encrypted and segregated environments. However, the jury sided with the plaintiffs, concluding that Google's practices were misleading and violated user trust.
This is not the first time Google has faced legal challenges over privacy. In May 2025, the company agreed to a $1.375 billion settlement with the state of Texas over allegations that it collected biometric data, including face geometry and voiceprints, without obtaining proper consent.
That case also involved claims that Google continued to track users’ locations even when location tracking was disabled.
The $425 million ruling marks another significant blow to Google amid growing scrutiny of Big Tech’s data practices and transparency.
