A federal judge has mandated that Google pay $425.7 million due to privacy violations involving millions of users who had disabled tracking features on their accounts. This ruling, delivered on Wednesday in San Francisco, stems from a class action lawsuit covering approximately 98 million users in the U.S. from July 2016 to 2024, revealing that Google was allegedly monitoring users in breach of California’s privacy laws.
In response, Google has denied claims of unauthorized data collection, insisting that they respect users’ privacy choices, especially when privacy settings are activated. A company spokesman, Jose Castaneda, stated, “This decision misunderstands how our products work,” and announced plans to appeal the ruling.
The class action, initiated in July 2020, accused Google of persistently gathering data even from users who opted for privacy measures. During court proceedings, Google defended its practices, arguing that the data collected was stored anonymously—using pseudonyms and kept in secure locations, claiming a separation from any individual user’s identity.
The lawyer representing the users expressed satisfaction with the ruling, emphasizing his approval of the judge’s decision. This isn’t the first time Google has faced scrutiny over privacy practices; the company previously reached nearly $1.4 billion in settlements related to privacy issues, including accusations regarding the mishandling of data during “Incognito” browsing.
