A federal jury on Wednesday ordered Alphabet’s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google to pay $425 million in a class action lawsuit that claimed the tech giant collected user data even when users opted out of tracking.
A Google spokesperson said the ruling “misunderstands how our products work,” adding that the company plans to appeal. They explained that businesses using Google Analytics could still collect some traffic information even if users had disabled Web & App Activity tracking, but emphasized that “the data collected did not identify users” and that Google “respected its users’ choices in privacy.”
The lawsuit, initiated in 2020, alleged that Google accessed mobile devices to gather user information even when data collection had been turned off under Web & App Activity settings.
Originally, the class action sought over $31 billion in damages. The jury found Google liable on two of the three counts but did not award any punitive damages.
The lawsuit also claimed that Google continued to gather data via third-party apps, including Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER), Venmo, and Meta Platforms’ (NASDAQ:META) Instagram, which all incorporate certain Google Analytics features.
Earlier this year, Google paid nearly $1.4 billion to the state of Texas over alleged violations of state privacy laws.
This class action is separate from a recent antitrust ruling involving Google, in which the company was allowed to retain control of its Chrome browser and Android operating system but was ordered to share some search data with competitors.
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