Google says 'decision misunderstands how our products work' on judgement that fines the company $425 million in privacy lawsuit

The US federal jury has ordered tech giant Google to pay $425 million in damages after finding the company violated users’ privacy by collecting data even when a key tracking feature is switched off. The class-action case alleged that Google gathered user information via its web and app activity setting. The company collected the data of about 98 millions users and 174 million devices for over a period of 8 years. The case also allege that the company gathered information despite users opting out.

Jury’s findings

The San Francisco jury found Google liable on two of three privacy violation claims but determined the company had not acted with malice. This means that no punitive damages were awarded. Plaintiffs gad sought more than $31 billion in damages. Originally filed in July 2020, the lawsuit claimed that Google still collected data via partnerships with apps such as Uber, Venom and Instagram. The company collected the data from all those who used Google analytics services.

Google’s response

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said that the company will appeal. Castaneda argued that the verdict has misinterpreted how the system works. “This decision misunderstands how our products work. Our privacy tools give people control over their data, and when they turn off personalization, we honour that choice.”During the trial Google maintained the stand that any collected data was non personal, pseudonymous, and stored securely in encrypted location. The company also claimed that the data collected was not linked to any individual user identities.

Legal and regulatory context

The ruling further adds to Google’s mounting privacy challenges. Earlier this year, Google paid around $1.4 billion to settle a privacy lawsuit with the state of Texas, and in April 2024 agreed to destroy billions of records from users’ private browsing sessions, including those in “Incognito” mode.