In a significant legal ruling, a federal jury has determined that Alphabet’s Google must pay $425 million in a class action lawsuit over privacy violations. The trial, held in San Francisco, concluded that Google continued to collect data from users who had disabled tracking features in their accounts, thus breaching privacy assurances related to its Web & App Activity settings.
The lawsuit, initiated in July 2020, accused Google of accessing users’ mobile devices over an eight-year span to collect and utilize their data without consent. The plaintiffs sought more than $31 billion in damages, but the jury found Google liable on two of the three claims while concluding that the company did not act with malice, meaning punitive damages were not awarded.
Google has publicly denied any wrongdoing. 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.” The company plans to appeal the jury’s decision.
This ruling adds to Google’s history of privacy-related legal challenges. Earlier this year, the tech giant settled with Texas for nearly $1.4 billion over allegations of violating state privacy laws. Additionally, in April 2024, Google agreed to destroy billions of records of users’ private browsing activities to resolve another lawsuit that claimed it tracked users in “Incognito” mode.
As the tech landscape continues to grapple with privacy issues, this ruling underscores the importance of user consent and data protection in an increasingly digital world. For further updates on this case and other legal matters involving major corporations, stay tuned to hiphopraisedmetheblog.com!
