US federal court rules Google illegally tracked users despite privacy settings
Class action covers nearly 100 million users and 174 million devices
Verdict comes as Alphabet navigates multiple antitrust battles
Google has been ordered by a US federal court to pay $425 million in damages after being found to have breached users’ privacy by collecting data from millions of people even after they had switched off a key tracking feature.
The ruling followed a class action lawsuit brought by users who said the company violated its own assurances by continuing to collect, save and use personal data despite settings in its Web & App Activity tool that were supposed to disable such tracking. Plaintiffs had been seeking more than $31 billion in damages.
A jury found Google liable on two of three privacy claims but concluded the company had not acted with malice. The case, filed in July 2020, represents around 98 million users and 174 million devices, and alleges Google’s data collection extended into hundreds of thousands of apps, including those from Uber, Lyft, Amazon, Alibaba, Instagram and Facebook.
Google has denied wrongdoing and vowed to appeal. “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 personalization, we honor that choice,” a company spokesperson said, according to the BBC.
The firm insists that when Web & App Activity is disabled, businesses may still use Google Analytics to gather site and app data, but the information is anonymized and does not personally identify individuals.
Wider legal pressures
The decision adds to Google’s mounting legal troubles. Just this week, shares in parent company Alphabet jumped more than 9% after District Judge Amit Mehta ruled the company would not have to sell its Chrome browser in a separate antitrust case brought by the US Department of Justice. However, Google will be barred from entering exclusive contracts and must share search data with competitors.
Meanwhile, District Judge Leonie Brinkema has already ruled that Google holds a monopoly in advertising technology. She is set to oversee a remedies trial later this month that could shape the future of the company’s lucrative ad business.