Another lawyer for the class, John Yanchunis of the law firm Morgan & Morgan, said that—in spite of the lower-than-requested award—he hopes the verdict will send a clear and unambiguous message to Google and other technology companies.
A federal court has ordered Google to pay more than $425 million for violating users’ privacy by collecting data even after turning off a key activity-tracking feature.
According to the BBC, the lawsuit was initially filed on behalf of a group of consumers who claimed that Google continued to access their smartphones to obtain, save, and use data, purportedly in violation of the company’s own privacy assurances.
The complaint had initially sought upward of $31 billion in damages.
Google was quick to criticize the award, saying that the jury-backed decision is grounded in ignorance of the company’s tools, policies, and practices.
“This decision misunderstands how our products work, and we will appeal it,” Google told the BBC in a statement. “Our privacy tools give people control over their data, and when they turn off personalization, we honor that choice.”
Nevertheless, the jury found Google liable for two out of the plaintiffs’ three claims, though it found that the company had not acted with malice in continuing to collect users’ data without their express or explicit consent.
“We are, obviously, very pleased with the verdict returned by the jury,” said David Boies, an attorney representing the plaintiffs.
The lawsuit, which was certified as a class action, covers about 98 million Google users across an estimated 174 million devices.
Another lawyer for the class, John Yanchunis of the law firm Morgan & Morgan, said that—in spite of the lower-than-requested award—he hopes the verdict will send a clear and unambiguous message to Google and other technology companies.
“We hope this result sends a message to the tech industry that Americans will not sit idly by as their information is collected and monetized against their will,” Yanchunis said.
In initial filings, attorneys accused Google of harvesting information across hundreds of thousands of smartphone applications, ranging from ridesharing platforms like Uber and Lyft to e-commerce and social media websites.
CBS News notes that the jury’s decision came a day after Google managed to avoid a U.S. Department of Justice-led attempt to dismantle the company. In that case, a federal judge determined that Google acts as an illegal monopoly in the search engine industry. However, instead of ordering that it be dissolved, the court directed Google to simply begin sharing some of its data with industry rivals.
Sources
Google ordered to pay $425.7 million in damages for improperly tracking smartphone activity
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