Jury Sides Against Google In Privacy Battle Over App Data

A jury in San Francisco determined Wednesday that Google should pay $425 million for violating mobile device owners' privacy by allegedly collecting analytics data after they attempted to prevent the company from doing so.

The verdict, issued after an 11-day trial, came in a legal battle over Google Analytics for Firebase -- a tool that can collect data about people's app usage.

Anibal Rodriguez and others alleged in a 2020 class-action complaint that Google “intentionally created an illusion of user control” through its “Web & App Activity” settings, which users can toggle off if they don't want to save searches and activity in their Google account.

Rodriguez and the others alleged that even when users turn off the setting, Google uses its Firebase code “to collect users’ communications made via the apps on users’ devices."

The jury specifically determined that the plaintiffs proved two claims -- "intrusion upon seclusion" and "invasion of privacy."

Google spokesperson José Castañeda says the company will appeal.