Google Ordered to Pay $425 Million in U.S. Privacy Case

• By Thetripurapost Web Desk, San Francisco
• Sep 04, 2025
• 654

A federal jury has ordered Alphabet’s Google to pay $425 million in damages after finding the company violated users’ privacy by collecting data even when a key tracking feature was switched off.

The verdict, delivered Wednesday in San Francisco, followed a class-action lawsuit filed in 2020 that accused Google of gathering and storing user information over eight years despite assurances tied to its “Web & App Activity” setting. Plaintiffs had sought over $31 billion in damages.

Jurors held Google liable on two of three privacy claims but ruled that the company did not act with malice—sparing it from punitive damages, according to Reuters. A Google spokesperson confirmed the verdict, though the company had denied wrongdoing throughout the trial.

The lawsuit alleged Google continued collecting user data through third-party apps such as Uber, Venmo, and Instagram, which rely on its analytics services. Google argued the data was “nonpersonal, pseudonymous, and securely encrypted,” not tied to individual accounts.

The case, certified by U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg, covers about 98 million users and 174 million devices.

The ruling adds to Google’s ongoing privacy battles. Earlier this year, it agreed to pay $1.4 billion to settle privacy law claims in Texas. In April 2024, it also consented to delete billions of records from its “Incognito” browsing mode following a separate lawsuit over secret tracking.