Orders Google to Pay $425M for Misleading Users on Privacy

A court has ordered Google to pay a hefty $425 million for deceiving its users about their online privacy. The ruling stems from a class-action lawsuit filed in July 2020, which accused the tech giant of misleading consumers with its “Web & App Activity” setting.

The lawsuit, initiated by plaintiff Anibal Rodriguez, centred on a Google setting that was supposed to halt data collection. However, the court found that Google continued to collect user data through a separate database called Firebase, which secretly tracked user activity across 1.5 million apps. This dual-collection system misled approximately 98 million Google users into believing their online actions were completely private.

While Google’s legal team argued that users were properly informed through an “Are You Sure?” prompt, a juror highlighted a critical point: “users are skimmers, not readers.” This statement underscores the court’s finding that Google’s communication was not clear enough to prevent user confusion.

But this is not an isolated incident for Google. The company has a history of questionable privacy practices, including past settlements for tracking user locations when it claimed it would not, and for misleading users about data collection in its “incognito mode.” Internal communications revealed that Google was “intentionally vague” about its data collection because the full truth could “sound alarming to users.”

Although the $425 million awarded is a fraction of the original $31 billion sought by the plaintiffs, it represents a clear judicial message on the importance of transparent user privacy policies. Google has stated its intention to appeal the decision, maintaining that its privacy tools provide users with adequate control over their data.

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