Google hit with $425 million penalty at trial in privacy case

Google hit with $425 million penalty at trial in privacy case

Google has been dealt a significant blow in a privacy case, as a jury in San Francisco federal court awarded the company a penalty of $425 million. The decision follows a two-week trial where a class of users sued Google for privacy violations, alleging that the company misled users into believing they had control over their personal data.

The suit, filed in 2020 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, alleged that Google deceived users into believing that turning off the Web & App Activity setting would prevent data tracking across third-party apps that use Google’s back-end data analytics services. The class is composed of 98 million users who turned off the setting [3].

Plaintiffs' attorney David Boies of Boies Schiller & Flexner LLP argued that the case boils down to Google's broken promise to users that they had control over their personal data. He pointed to 2018 congressional testimony from Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who stated that users could clearly see what kinds of data the company collected and could toggle on and off that data collection. However, internal Google emails and surveys uncovered during the litigation showed that users were being misled about how much control they actually had [3].

Google’s attorney Benedict Hur of Cooley LLP, on the other hand, maintained that the search giant has always made clear to users that toggling off the privacy switch wouldn’t completely stop data collection, but would instead continue to collect anonymized, aggregate data for third-party apps that users Google services. He also argued that there was no real harm caused by Google, dismissing claims of mental harm or psychological distress [3].

The $425 million penalty is one of the largest fines ever imposed on a tech company for privacy violations. The decision underscores the growing importance of data privacy and the potential legal and financial risks associated with failing to adequately protect user data.

References:
[1] https://www.marketscreener.com/news/france-hits-google-with-381-million-fine-for-consumer-protection-failures-ce7d59dbdd8ef020
[2] https://www.tradingview.com/news/reuters.com,2025:newsml_L1N3UQ0XY:0-france-hits-google-with-381-million-fine-for-consumer-protection-failures/
[3] https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/google-jury-to-decide-between-broken-privacy-promises-or-no-harm