Court fines Google $314 million for secretly collecting data from users

A jury in San Jose, California, found Google guilty of illegal data use and ordered it to pay $314.6 million in damages. The lawsuit involved collecting mobile data from Android devices even when they were not in use.

The lawsuit was filed in 2019 on behalf of approximately 14 million California residents. It alleged that Google collected data from their smartphones without their knowledge, even when they were in standby mode. This information was sent to the company’s servers and used, among other things, for advertising purposes.

In July 2025, a jury in Santa Clara County found Google’s actions unlawful. The court found that the background data transfer took place without informing users and resulted in the consumption of paid Internet traffic. The company itself received all the benefits of such collection.

Google said it would appeal the court’s decision. According to company representatives, such data transfers are necessary for the operation of the Android system and are described in the user agreement.

The plaintiffs, in turn, argue that this is not about technical support for the Android platform, but about collecting information for commercial purposes – with the costs borne by users, and the income received by Google.

At the moment, the case concerns only California. However, a similar lawsuit has already been filed in the federal court in San Jose on behalf of users from 49 other US states. The hearing is scheduled for April 2026.

The decision of the California court could become a precedent and affect the approach of technology companies to collecting user data. If Google’s appeal is rejected, the company will be obliged to pay compensation.