Google has been ordered by a California court in the US to pay $314 million against a charge that it had misused cellular data from users of Android devices to passively send information to the company.
The verdict marks the end of a legal collective action complaint originally filed in August 2019.
In their lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that Google’s Android operating system would utilize the user’s cellular data to send “various information” without permission, even if the device is kept idle.
“Google can ensure that these transfers only occur when these transfers are connected to Wi-Fi, but instead Google can design these transfers and do them over a mobile network,” they said.
“Google’s misuse of mobile phone data violates California law and requires Google to indemnify the plaintiffs for the value of mobile phone data that Google uses for its own benefit without permission.”
The plaintiff alleged that this occurred when the user closed all Google apps and the device was dormant, when the Google properties were still open and working in the background.
In one example, the plaintiff found that he was connected to a Samsung Galaxy S7 device with default settings and standard preloaded apps, as well as a new Google account, sending and receiving 8.88 MB/day of cellular data.
Information exchange occurred approximately 389 times within 24 hours. The transferred information consisted primarily of log files containing operating system metrics, network status, and lists of open apps.
“Log files are usually not time sensitive and can easily delay sending them until Wi-Fi is available,” according to court documents.
“Google could also program Android to enable passive transfers only when users are connected to Wi-Fi, but it appears that they are clearly choosing not to do so. Instead, Google has chosen to simply take advantage of the plaintiff’s mobile data allowance.”
That’s not all. The court complaint also cited another 2018 experiment in which there was “outwardly still” but found that Android devices that opened the Chrome web browser app and brought about around 900 passive transfers in the background in 24 hours were “outwardly still”;
In comparison, a static, pristine iPhone with Safari browser open in the background was sent “significantly less information”, noting that Apple’s operating system gives users more control over passive information transfer.
Following the trial that began on June 2, 2025, the ju judges sided with the plaintiffs, saying that the tech giants are responsible for carrying out these passive data transfers and could call what they said as “an essential and inevitable burden.” […] For Google’s profits and convenience. ”
In a statement to Reuters, Google said it would challenge the decision, claiming that data transfer is related to “services that are critical to the security, performance and reliability of Android devices.” The company also pointed out that it would disclose the terms of use and obtain their consent.
The ju apprentice’s decision comes two months after the company agreed to pay nearly $1.4 billion to settle two Texas lawsuits, then accused users of tracking their personal locations and maintaining facial recognition data without consent.
The development also follows a statement in a statement that it is suing the European Commission’s decision in April 2025, and its wage or agreement model violates the Regional Digital Markets Act (DMA) and fines 200 million euros ($227 million).
“The decision requires Meta to provide free, personalized advertising services, ignore costs, impact or effectiveness, and impose potentially unworkable business models,” the company said.
“This overlooks the commercial reality in a market economy that meta deserves fair compensation for the valuable and innovative services that users choose to use, which is essential to sustain innovation and economic growth.
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