A court ordered Google to pay $425 million after finding the company misled 98 million users about data collection through its “Web & App Activity” setting[1]. The case revealed Google continued gathering user data via Firebase, a monitoring database embedded in 97% of top Android apps and 54% of leading iOS apps, even after users disabled data collection[1:1].
Google’s internal communications showed the company was “intentionally vague” about its data collection practices because being transparent “could sound alarming to users,” according to district judge Richard Seeborg[1:2].
This ruling adds to Google’s recent privacy settlements, including:
- $392 million paid to 40 states in 2023 for location tracking violations
- $40 million to Washington state for similar location tracking issues
- $1.38 billion to Texas in 2025 over location tracking and incognito mode claims[1:3]
Google plans to appeal the $425 million verdict, with spokesperson Jose Castaneda stating “This decision misunderstands how our products work” and asserting that Google honors user privacy choices[1:4].
Great
So lawyers get half right off the bat. Leaves 212 ish million.
This affected how many, let’s say 1 billion users. Your privacy is worth 25 cents.
Oh and let’s not forget google gets to keep that data it illegally collected.
what’re you gonna do with your penny
I’m sure Google profited more than $425 million by doing so.
This is just part of the cost of doing business.
This outcome is predictable, as these corporations tend to avoid consequences.
I hope it’s the amount for each user
Uh yes, I would like to claim my $425m please and thank you.
Last week I created a temporary google account using an address from my own domain. The other day Google sent a mail that the account is restricted and I need to verify my age first. I’m located in central EU, why is Google doing this?
Like .25¢ per user.
A quarter of a cent?
Redundant. Thanks for pointing that out.
Billion starts with a “B”
People were ever confused about Google’s relationship with privacy?
I think if anyone is financially liable for misleading anyone, it’s the Android community. I mean the fanboys, the anti-Apple guys, the ones who downplayed, omitted, or straight up lied about Android being a vehicle for data collection first and foremost. But they have no direct financial gain for doing so (they gain nothing if you buy a phone running Android, and they lose nothing if you buy an iPhone) so they can’t be held liable.
Google has never been your friend if you care about privacy. You use Google tools because they’re free and they’re pretty good. You pay with your privacy. Always have. You use Android because it’s more customisable than iOS, and because of the illusion of open source (iOS is based on macOS which was based on NeXTSTEP which was basically UNIX, so who cares if Android is Linux?). And because you can install custom firmware (e.g. GrapheneOS) which is Android with the tracking stuff stripped out. But you’re still paying Google and paying into their business model, i.e. rewarding them for bad behaviour (or at least that which you profess to disapprove of).
(FWIW, I use both platforms. I like both platforms, and I can tell you what I like more about each one beyond what I’ve said, but it’s apocryphal at best.)
The case revealed Google continued gathering user data via Firebase, a monitoring database embedded in 97% of top Android apps and 54% of leading iOS apps, even after users disabled data collection
This is why we can’t hace nice things.
That’s going to be $0.80 for each of us
And it will be on a prepaid card and you’ll need to sign up for a google account to get the card.
That’s what Equifax did to people. Made them create an account and fork over personal details to get the settlement payout.
A settlement Equifax had to pay over stolen data. Oh the irony.
Ok, fork it the fuck over.
If we all started going in on all the privacy violation lawsuits and collecting on them it adds up.
Why am I supposed to clip coupons but not collect free money these giant corporations are hemorrhaging?
Edit: Actually just checked and it’s about $4/user. I’ll take $4 out of spite.
Why don’t we treat them like other criminals.
You’ve done a crime, go to corpo prison for 20 years
Why are we treating corporation, which we “Limit Liability” of the operators already, nicer than we treat humans ?
Like, what happens if you’re found to have done fraud ?
That’s like 5 years in prison isn’t it ?
Don’t necessary put the C-suite in prison, just put the corporation in prison for 5 years. Everyone that works there can work somewhere else during the time out.
Other corporation can fill the vacuum while the criminal corporation is absent ?Because if not, two things are going to happen.
Way more C-unts are going to get Luigi’d
and/or
I’m going to start a criminal corporation and we’re going to mulch cop-babies for protein.Personally I’d rather not see corporations get even more personified. We’ve already got a massive fascism problem that has been brewing for 100+ years. If you want to see the move away from fascism then government will need to hold stakeholders accountable for the CEO’s actions. Until then the CEO will continue to be the very well paid fall guy for corporate fuckery while the actual decision makers are untouchable.
Even if we start pancaking CEOs, the corporation will just replace them. Either zero out their bank accounts, suspend the liability protect, implement corporate death penalty. But don’t act as if the organization itself isn’t guilty. Even if you decapitate the leadership and seize the shares but the organization keeps ticking, the jobs still go on, the profit is still made, the corporation is still alive. Whatever it did, it still survives. If the shares are seized, the government will be even more reluctant to damage it more than just the job loss !
Corporations get treated as humans with only rights and no duties.
Again they show us privacy policy never works, libre software does.
Yes, a lot of people believe this. Privacy and security only depends on the ethics and intentions of the dev or company, not of the license of their product. A lot of mal/spyware is FLOSS, even Googles tracking APIs (eg.googleanalytics, google-tagmanager, etc), included in a lot of FOSS, is.
Wrong, anti-libre software traps us in every abusive decision of its owner.
Out of 50 FOSS apps (F-Droid) i use, none use googleanalytics, google-tagmanager or any other tracking framework. Some of them display a send bugreport popup on crash, which redirects to E-Mail.
Out of 5 proprietary apps i use (Aurora store in shelter profile), i see Adobe Experience Cloud, Appdynamics, Google Admob/Crashlytics, AltBeacon and those are some of the more tame apps.
Tested with TrackerControl and confirmed via App Manager.
In short, your claim is false. Are you maybe confusing things with LineageOS optionally using analytics?
Next you’re going to tell me that politicians don’t tell the truth.
Well… Unfortunately, politicians sometimes tell the truth
Even with the small amount per user, they better be forced to pay in real checks or similar. Not in Play Store gift cards/credits, as I imagine that is what they will want to do if their appeal fails.
