Google has been ordered to pay over $314.6 million to Android smartphone users in California after a state court in San Jose ruled in favour of the plaintiffs in a class-action lawsuit. The jury agreed with claims that Google was liable for sending and receiving information from Android devices without users’ permission while the devices were idle. According to the lawsuit, this amounted to “mandatory and unavoidable burdens shouldered by Android device users for Google’s benefit.”
The suit further claimed that Google programmed Android phones to transfer data to its servers when users were not connected to a Wi-Fi network, effectively using data that customers were paying for.
The tech giant allegedly used this information “to further its own corporate interests,” including building more targeted digital advertising and expanding its mapping credibility, the lawsuit states.
The class-action lawsuit was filed in 2019 in Santa Clara Superior Court on behalf of California residents. A parallel federal case is pending for Android users across the United States, with a trial scheduled to begin in early 2026, Bloomberg reported.
“This ruling is a setback for users, as it misunderstands services that are critical to the security, performance, and reliability of Android devices,” Google’s José Castañeda was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.
Castañeda further noted that the transfers discussed in the case are necessary to maintain the performance of billions of Android devices worldwide and that they consume less cellular data than sending a single photo.
He stated that Android users consent to such transfers through multiple terms of use agreements and device setting options.
Notably, this case is only one of several legal challenges facing the search giant in its home country.
