Google must pay $425 million in class action over privacy, jury rules

A U.S. federal jury has ordered Alphabet-owned Google to pay $425 million after finding the tech giant guilty of invading user privacy by continuing to collect personal data, even after millions of users had disabled a tracking feature on their accounts.

The verdict was delivered on Wednesday in the federal court of San Francisco, marking a major development in an eight-year dispute over Google’s handling of user data.

Jury Findings and Damages

The case centered on allegations that Google accessed data from users’ mobile devices over several years, despite users having turned off the “Web & App Activity” setting, which is supposed to prevent such tracking.

The jury found Google liable on two out of three privacy violation claims. However, jurors also concluded that the company had not acted with “malice,” meaning Google will not face punitive damages beyond the $425 million.

The plaintiffs had originally sought more than $31 billion in damages.

Google’s Response

Google has denied any wrongdoing and announced plans to appeal the ruling.

Company spokesperson Jose Castaneda stated:

“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.”

At trial, Google argued that the information collected was nonpersonal, pseudonymous, and securely stored in encrypted databases, insisting that it was not linked to any individual’s Google account or personal identity.

Lawyers and Plaintiffs’ Position

Plaintiffs’ attorney David Boies welcomed the ruling, saying they were “obviously very pleased with the verdict the jury returned.”

The class action lawsuit, first filed in July 2020, claimed Google continued to gather data through partnerships with third-party apps including Uber, Venmo, and Instagram (owned by Meta), despite users disabling the tracking option.

Scope of the Case

U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg certified the lawsuit as a class action, covering an estimated 98 million Google users and around 174 million devices.

Broader Privacy Challenges for Google

This is not the first time Google has faced intense scrutiny over its data practices:

• Earlier in 2025, Google agreed to pay nearly $1.4 billion to settle allegations in Texas, where the company was accused of violating state privacy laws.
• In April 2024, Google agreed to delete billions of user browsing records to settle claims that it secretly tracked users even when they were browsing in “Incognito mode.”

These cases highlight the growing legal pressure on major tech companies to align with stronger privacy protections and regulatory standards.