A federal jury decided on Wednesday that Google de Alphabet must pay $ 425 million for invading the privacy of users by continuing to collect data for millions of users who had disconnected a follow -up function in their Google account.
The verdict followed a trial in the federal court in San Francisco on the accusations that, for more than eight years, Google agreed to the mobile devices of users to collect, save and use their data, breaking privacy guarantees under its configuration of web and applications activities.
Users had been looking for more than $ 31 billion in damages.
The jury found Google responsible for two of the three claims for privacy violations raised by the plaintiffs. However, he decided that Google had not acted with malice, which means that the company was not responsible for any punitive damage.
A Google spokesman confirmed the verdict. Google had denied any irregularity.
The collective demand, presented in July 2020, claimed that Google continued to collect the data of the users even when the configuration went out, through its connections with applications such as Uber, Venmo and Meta Instagram, which are based on Google’s analysis services.
In the trial, Google argued that the data collected were “non -personal, pseudonyms and stored in segregated, insured and encrypted locations.” The company said the data were not linked to user Google accounts or any individual identity.
The American district judge Richard Seeborg certified the case as a class action, which covers about 98 million Google users and 174 million devices.
Google has faced other privacy demands, including one earlier this year, where he paid almost $ 1.4 billion in an agreement with Texas for claims that the company violated the privacy laws of the State.
In April 2024, Google also agreed to destroy billions of data records of user private navigation activities to resolve another demand, which alleged that it tracked people who believed they were sailing in private, even in “incognito” mode.
