On Tuesday, July 1, jurors in California found that Google unlawfully used user data, leading to a $314.6 million penalty for Android smartphone owners in the state. This was reported by Reuters.
Plaintiffs complained that Google is liable for sending and receiving data from devices without consent while they were inactive. The lawsuit described this as "an unavoidable burden that Android device users bear for the benefit of Google."
Meanwhile, a Google representative stated that the company intends to appeal the jury's decision, claiming that the verdict "misunderstands the services that are critical for the security, performance, and reliability of Android devices."
In turn, the plaintiffs' attorney asserted that the verdict "strongly confirms the merits of this case and reflects the seriousness of Google's misconduct."
The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2019 on behalf of approximately 14 million Californians, alleging that Google collected information from inactive Android smartphones using cellular data without users' knowledge.
In response, Google stated that no Android user was harmed by the data transmission and that users consented to this in the company's terms of service and privacy policy.
A similar lawsuit was also filed by another group of Android users from the other 49 states in the U.S. The hearing for this case is set for April 2026.
