Google to pay $425 mln for data privacy breach, jury finds
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A federal jury has ordered Google to pay $425 million for collecting user data despite tracking being disabled.
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Signage outside Google headquarters in Mountain View, California, October 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
A federal jury in San Francisco has ordered Google to pay $425 million in damages after finding the tech giant liable for breaching the privacy of millions of users.
The class-action lawsuit, originally filed in July 2020, accused Google of continuing to collect user data even after users had disabled tracking through the company’s Web & App Activity setting.
The verdict in Rodriguez v. Google LLC marks a significant win for privacy advocates. The jury concluded that Google violated its own privacy assurances by harvesting data from nearly 98 million users across 174 million devices.
Despite users turning off tracking, Google allegedly continued data collection through its partnerships with third-party apps like Uber, Instagram, and Venmo, which used Google Analytics.
Web & App Activity violations
At the heart of the case was the Web & App Activity setting, a feature designed to track user interactions across Google services such as Search, Maps, and YouTube. While intended to support personalization and ad targeting, the setting also collected data related to location via IP addresses, even when users had opted out. The lawsuit argued that this practice contradicted Google's own privacy commitments.
The case spanned a broad user base, seeking $31 billion in damages covering approximately 98 million Google account holders. The class certification, approved by Judge Richard Seeborg, emphasized that Google's conduct could reasonably be viewed as "highly offensive," forming the legal basis for the jury’s decision.
Google's defense
Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda responded to the ruling by 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."
While the jury sided with the plaintiffs on two of three claims, it did not find Google acted with malice, a factor that spared the company from additional punitive damages. Google has confirmed it will appeal the decision.
A pattern of privacy violations
This is not Google's first legal setback over privacy issues. The company has faced multiple lawsuits and settlements, including a $1.375 billion agreement with the state of Texas in 2025 and a $391.5 million multi-state settlement in 2022. These actions addressed deceptive practices related to location tracking and incognito mode data collection.
