Jury finds Google liable for collecting user data without consent from idle Android phones.
Plaintiffs claimed the background data usage benefited Google while costing users.
Google plans to appeal, citing misunderstandings about Android system services.
In yet another major legal blow to Google, a jury in San Jose has ordered the tech giant to pay over $314.6 million (approximately Rs 2,620 crore) in damages to Android phone users in the state. This comes after the class-action lawsuit that accused the company of illegally collecting personal data from users without their knowledge or consent. The class action lawsuit was originally filed in 2019 and represented an estimated 14 million Android users in California.
SurveyAccording to a report by Reuters, Plaintiffs argued that Google routinely sent and received data from devices even when they were not in use, and that too without informing users or seeking permission. The lawsuit described these background data transfers as “mandatory and unavoidable burdens” placed on Android users for Google’s benefit.
The jury came to the conclusion that these actions amounted to misuse of the user data violating user privacy and consuming cellular data for purposes such as targeted advertising.
On the other hand, Google has stated that it has planned to appeal the decision. Company spokesperson Jose Castaneda defended the data collection practices, stating that the verdict “misunderstands services that are critical to the security, performance, and reliability of Android devices,” as quoted by Reuters.
The jury’s verdict, according to plaintiffs’ principal lawyer Glen Summers, “forcefully vindicates the merits of this case and reflects the seriousness of Google’s misconduct.” Summers described the verdict as a strong message.
Google argued that no real harm had been done to users as a result of the background data transfers during the trial and that users had agreed to the data collection through its terms of service and privacy policies.
In the meantime, a different lawsuit with similar claims has been filed in federal court in San Jose on behalf of Android users in the remaining 49 US states. If the reports are believed to be true, the case is said to go into trial in April 2026.
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Ashish Singh
Ashish Singh is the Chief Copy Editor at Digit. He's been wrangling tech jargon since 2020 (Times Internet, Jagran English '22). When not policing commas, he's likely fueling his gadget habit with coffee, strategising his next virtual race, or plotting a road trip to test the latest in-car tech. He speaks fluent Geek. View Full Profile
