A U.S. federal court has ordered Google to pay $425 million in damages after finding the tech giant guilty of violating user privacy by collecting data even when its tracking features were turned off. The ruling marks a significant moment in the ongoing debate over tech companies’ handling of personal data.
The verdict stems from a class action lawsuit filed in July 2020 on behalf of nearly 98 million users across 174 million devices. Plaintiffs accused Google of continuing to access and use personal information through its Web & App Activity setting, despite users disabling tracking and expecting their data would not be collected.
Jurors found Google liable on two of three privacy claims, but stopped short of concluding the company acted with malice or intent to harm. The lawsuit alleged Google’s covert data practices extended to hundreds of apps, including major platforms like Uber, Lyft, Amazon, Alibaba, Instagram, and Facebook.
In response to the ruling, 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.”
Google maintains that when Web & App Activity is disabled, some data may still be collected by third-party services using Google Analytics, but claims this information is non-identifiable and respects user privacy preferences.
Despite plaintiffs seeking over $31 billion in damages, the final award was a fraction of that amount—though still among the larger privacy-related penalties in U.S. tech litigation history.
The privacy ruling comes during a high-stakes legal week for Google’s parent company, Alphabet, which also celebrated a win in a separate antitrust case. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled the company would not have to divest its Chrome web browser following a Justice Department probe into Google’s search dominance. However, the court ordered Google to share search data with rivals and barred it from making exclusive search agreements, especially with phone manufacturers and browser developers.
That case, centered on Google’s default search engine status on Android, Chrome, and Apple devices, has been closely watched by regulators and industry rivals.
Meanwhile, Google is also facing another antitrust lawsuit targeting its advertising empire. In April, District Judge Leonie Brinkema found the company holds a monopoly in digital advertising, setting the stage for a remedies trial scheduled to begin later this month.
As legal pressure continues to mount across privacy and competition fronts, Google finds itself increasingly entangled in a broader global reckoning over the power and responsibility of Big Tech.
