Archive · 5 Sep 2025
Google Ordered to Pay $425.7 Million for Smartphone Snooping
Imagine Google was looking at what you do on your phone, even when you thought you were keeping it private.
A court decided that Google did this without asking, against the rules.
The court ordered Google to pay a big fine, like a really expensive parking ticket.
The money is supposed to help the people whose phones were spied on.
Google says it didn't do anything wrong and will try to get the court's decision changed.
A federal jury ordered Google to pay $425.7 million.
The case involved nearly a decade of smartphone data collection.
The class-action case covered roughly 98 million smartphones in the US.
Google denied the allegations, but the jury found them guilty.
Google plans to appeal the verdict.
- Who
- Google and smartphone users
- What
- Google ordered to pay damages for improper smartphone snooping
- When
- Verdict reached on Wednesday
- Where
- San Francisco federal court
- Why
- For violating California privacy laws
- Damages Awarded
- $425.7 million
- Time Period
- Nearly a decade
- Affected Devices
- Approximately 98 million smartphones in the US
- Case Start Date
- July 1, 2016
- Case End Date
- September 23, 2024
- Plaintiff Claim
- Violation of California privacy laws
- Google Response
- Will appeal the decision
