Google fined $314 million for transferring data from inactive devices

A jury in California ruled on Tuesday, July 1, that Google improperly used user data, forcing the company to pay a fine of $314.6 million to Android smartphone owners in the state, Reuters reported.

The plaintiffs alleged that Google was responsible for sending and receiving data from devices without permission while they were inactive, describing the lawsuit as a "mandatory and unavoidable burden borne by Android device users for Google's benefit."

At the same time, a Google spokesperson said that the company will appeal the jury's decision, and that the verdict "misunderstands services that are critical to the security, performance, and reliability of Android devices."

In turn, the plaintiffs' lawyer says that the verdict "convincingly confirms the merits of this case and reflects the seriousness of Google's wrongdoing."

A class-action lawsuit filed in 2019 on behalf of about 14 million Californians alleged that Google was collecting information from inactive Android smartphones by consuming cellular data without the users' knowledge.

In response, Google stated that no Android users were harmed by the data transfer and that users had consented to it in the company's terms of service and privacy policy.

A similar lawsuit has been filed by another group of Android users in the other 49 states in the United States. The case is scheduled for trial in April 2026.