A California jury has ordered Google to pay $314 million for collecting data from Android phones over cellular networks. This verdict is the culmination of a class-action lawsuit that was first filed against the company in 2019. The plaintiffs argued that Google could have waited until the devices were connected to Wi-Fi networks. This practice of using cellular data equated to stealing a resource that the plaintiffs had paid for. The data transfers occurred silently and without users’ consent while Android devices were sitting seemingly idle.
Google then used the collected information to further its own corporate interests, including for targeted digital advertising. The data transfers were sometimes delayed until users were connected to cellular networks and occurred after apps were closed. Google’s spokesperson strongly disagreed with the decision and announced that the company will appeal the recent jury verdict. The company said this ruling is a setback for users as it misunderstands services critical to Android devices.
The data transfers are needed to ensure billions of Android devices around the globe perform as they should.
Google’s spokesperson also noted that the data transfers take very little cellular data, less than sending one photo. The company also asserted that Android users consent to the transfers through several different terms of use agreements. However, the plaintiffs disputed that assertion in the complaint, alleging Google made it impossible to disable transfers. Because of Google’s deliberate design, these passive information transfers using cellular data were mandatory and unavoidable burdens. The complaint noted far less information is sent through passive transfers on Apple’s popular iOS mobile devices.
This is because phones running the iOS operating system give users much greater control over this kind of activity.
This recent verdict is not the only legal trouble that the technology giant has faced over its data collection practices. In May, Google agreed to pay the state of Texas more than $1.37 billion to end two separate lawsuits. That case involved Google’s use of location data, biometrics, and the popular Incognito private search engine feature. The Texas Attorney General had sued the tech giant for illegally tracking and collecting its users’ locations.
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