A U.S. federal jury has ordered Google to pay roughly $425 million in damages for collecting data from smartphone app usage despite users’ privacy settings. The verdict stems from a class‑action lawsuit filed in July 2020 that alleged Google intercepted, tracked, and sold users’ mobile‑app activity regardless of the privacy choices they made. Plaintiffs argued that this constituted an illegal interception of consumers’ private activity on mobile applications.
Google maintains that its privacy tools give users control over their data and that the company respects opt‑out choices for personalization. However, the plaintiffs’ attorneys countered that Google’s privacy promises are “blatant lies.” The jury delivered its decision in San Francisco, a day after Google won a separate antitrust case in which a federal judge in Washington, D.C., rejected the government’s request that Google sell its Chrome web browser. Google said it will appeal the $425 million verdict, asserting that the jury misunderstood how its products work.
The case highlights the ongoing challenge Google faces in balancing its advertising business with user‑privacy concerns. The company has been working to replace traditional online‑activity tracking “cookies” with a less invasive mechanism. Cookies are small files saved to browsers by websites to collect data about users’ online activity, which is essential for online advertising.
In a related development, France’s data‑protection authority, the CNIL, issued record fines against Google and fast‑fashion platform Shein for violating laws on internet cookies. Google was fined €325 million, while Shein received a €150 million penalty. The CNIL found that both companies failed to obtain users’ free and informed consent before setting advertising cookies on their browsers. Google said it will study the CNIL decision and has complied with earlier demands. This is the third CNIL fine on Google’s use of cookies, following penalties of €100 million in 2020 and €150 million in 2021.
These developments underscore the increasing scrutiny of tech companies’ data‑collection practices and the growing need for transparency and compliance with privacy regulations.
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