California, 04/09/2025 — Google has been instructed by a US jury to pay $425 million following allegations of privacy violations affecting tens of millions of users. The tech giant is expected to appeal the decision, maintaining its stance on user data protection.
Jury Verdict
A US jury in San Francisco has delivered a verdict mandating Google to pay $425 million for infringing the privacy rights of users. This decision comes after allegations that Google continued to collect data from third-party applications even when users had disabled this feature in their account settings.
Google’s Response
Google has expressed its intent to appeal the jury’s decision, citing a fundamental misunderstanding of its products. Jose Castaneda, a spokesperson stated, ‘Our privacy tools give people control over their data, and when they turn off personalization, we honor that choice.’
Google Lawsuit Details
The lawsuit, initiated in July 2020, involved around 98 million users. The plaintiffs accused Google of breaching privacy assurances by collecting and selling mobile app activity data despite the users’ preferences as set in the Web & App Activity settings. During the trial, the company argued that the data in question was ‘nonpersonal’ and ‘pseudonymous’ and that it was stored securely.
Recent Privacy Settlements
Google has recently faced multiple privacy-related legal challenges. In May, the company agreed to a $1.375 billion settlement with the state of Texas over allegations of unauthorized collection of residents’ biometric data and location tracking, even when users had opted out.
