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Google Reaches $135 Million Settlement in Android User Data Privacy Lawsuit
Mountain View, CA – Google has agreed to a preliminary $135 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by Android users who alleged the tech giant illegally collected their cellular data without consent. The lawsuit claimed that since November 12, 2017, Google had been harvesting data from phones purchased through carriers, even when applications were closed or location services were disabled.
The plaintiffs accused Google of “conversion,” a legal term in which one party takes the property of another with the intent to deprive them of it or exert property rights over it, by using their data for marketing and product development.
The proposed $135 million settlement, filed in a San Jose federal court this week, is pending judicial approval. According to Glen Summers, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, this payout would be one of the largest, if not the largest, in a case of this type. Each user involved in the lawsuit could receive up to $100.
While Google denies any wrongdoing, the company has agreed to implement changes. Moving forward, Google will seek explicit consent during the setup process of new phones.
A new toggle will be introduced to allow users to easily disable data transfer, and Google will also update its terms of service accordingly. A trial in the case is currently scheduled for August 5.
This marks the second settlement for Google this week. On January 26, the company also agreed to a $68 million settlement in a separate class-action suit alleging that Google Assistant had been “spying” on users after mistakenly interpreting background noise as wake words. Google similarly denied any wrongdoing in that case.