Google settles class action over data transfers for $135 million

The tech titan must now make changes to the setup process for Android phones, as well as Google Play terms and conditions, to more clearly disclose its data usage.(CN) — For years, Google’s Android smartphones have acted on their own, according to users who sued the company in 2020. They described Android devices transmitting data to Google servers without user knowledge, often while the devices were idle or inactive, and even using cellular data to do so without compensating phone owners.On Friday, U.S. Magistrate Jge Virginia DeMarchi gave final approval to a settlement reached last year between Google and the plaintiffs, who represent a class of customers that accessed the internet on Android devices since Nov. 12, 2017. California users reached a $314 million settlement in July in a separate state lawsuit.This class includes over 129 million members, resulting in a slim individual payout of less than a dollar, per Angeion Group, the company selected to administer the settlement.Much more significant, however, is the injunctive relief won by plaintiffs. As part of the settlement, Google must be more forthcoming with users when it comes to background data usage.The company will have to add a new section, “Use of cellular data,” to the set-up process for Android phones, disclosing that mobile cell data may be used for “background” communications between the devices and Google servers, some of which are mandatory and can’t be disabled.The full text that Google must include in the new “Use of cellular data” section, to be added to the Android OS set-up process. (Screenshot/U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California)Google Play, the company’s app marketplace built into the Android operating system, will also see disclosure changes under the settlement. Its terms of service will now tell customers that cellular data may be used for some network communications, including data transfers that “may happen in the background, when you are not directly interacting with your device, including when the device’s screen is locked.”Google will also need to deactivate a toggle option that existed within Google Play, which gave users the false impression that they could disable the store’s mobile data usage for “background” data transfers.The settlement doesn’t prevent Google from continuing these data transfers, as the plaintiffs’ case was concerned with the company’s lack of disclosure.“Several individuals object to the injunctive relief the settlement provides, arguing that it merely requires Google to make disclosures regarding the challenged transfers, but does not prohibit Google from continuing to engage in those transfers,” DeMarchi wrote in her order finalizing the settlement. “The court finds no basis to conclude that the injunctive relief must or should require Google to discontinue the challenged transfers. Indeed, Google maintains that the challenged transfers are necessary to ensure the proper functioning and security of user’s Android devices, and that prohibiting the transfers or disabling them entirely will harm (not benefit) users and the Android ecosystem.”DeMarchi awarded class attorneys just over $28.5 million in fees, or 21% of the total settlement fund. They had requested almost $40 million.Named plaintiffs in the case received $5,000 each, as DeMarchi said their requested $10,000 incentive award “would overcompensate.”Neither attorneys for the class nor Google responded to requests for comment by press time.Subscribe to our free newslettersOur weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.Additional Reads