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Google misled users about their privacy and now owes them $425m, says court (www.malwarebytes.com)

submitted 4 weeks ago by Zerush@lemmy.ml to c/privacy@lemmy.ml

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A court ordered Google to pay $425 million after finding the company misled 98 million users about data collection through its "Web & App Activity" setting[^1]. The case revealed Google continued gathering user data via Firebase, a monitoring database embedded in 97% of top Android apps and 54% of leading iOS apps, even after users disabled data collection[^1].

Google's internal communications showed the company was "intentionally vague" about its data collection practices because being transparent "could sound alarming to users," according to district judge Richard Seeborg[^1].

This ruling adds to Google's recent privacy settlements, including:

$392 million paid to 40 states in 2023 for location tracking violations
$40 million to Washington state for similar location tracking issues
$1.38 billion to Texas in 2025 over location tracking and incognito mode claims[^1]

Google plans to appeal the $425 million verdict, with spokesperson Jose Castaneda stating "This decision misunderstands how our products work" and asserting that Google honors user privacy choices[^1].

[^1]: Malwarebytes - Google misled users about their privacy and now owes them $425m, says court

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[-] cardfire@sh.itjust.works 26 points 4 weeks ago

That's going to be $0.80 for each of us

[-] pika@lemmy.today 11 points 4 weeks ago

And it will be on a prepaid card and you'll need to sign up for a google account to get the card.

That's what Equifax did to people. Made them create an account and fork over personal details to get the settlement payout.

A settlement Equifax had to pay over stolen data. Oh the irony.

[-] AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 weeks ago* (last edited 4 weeks ago)

Ok, fork it the fuck over.

If we all started going in on all the privacy violation lawsuits and collecting on them it adds up.

Why am I supposed to clip coupons but not collect free money these giant corporations are hemorrhaging?

Edit: Actually just checked and it's about $4/user. I'll take $4 out of spite.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/google-violated-privacy-of-nearly-100-million-users-jury-finds

this post was submitted on 15 Sep 2025

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