Google will pay $135 million to resolve a proposed class action brought by owners of Android-powered smartphones who alleged the company designed its operating system to collect cellular data without permission, a preliminary settlement filed late Tuesday in federal court in San Jose, California shows.
The agreement, which requires a judge’s approval to take effect, covers users of Android devices dating back to November 12, 2017. Google denied any wrongdoing in entering the settlement.
Plaintiffs allege that Google collected cellular data - which users purchase from their mobile carriers - even after people closed Google apps, disabled location-sharing, or locked their screens. According to the complaint, that information was used to support Google’s product development and to target advertising, and the plaintiffs characterized the conduct as "conversion," a term they used to describe when one party wrongfully takes another party’s property with the intent to assert control.
Under the proposed settlement, Google will not transfer such data without obtaining consent from Android users during the phone setup process. The company also agreed to make it simpler for users to stop transfers by allowing toggling and to disclose these transfers in its Google Play terms of service.
Glen Summers, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a court filing that he believes the $135 million fund is the largest payout yet in a conversion case. Individual payments to class members will be capped at $100.
A trial in the matter had been scheduled to begin on August 5. Google did not provide an immediate comment on Wednesday.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers may request up to $39.8 million, or 29.5% of the settlement fund, for legal fees, according to court filings.
Context and procedural next steps
The settlement is preliminary and depends on judicial approval before payments and the operational changes take effect. If the court approves the agreement, eligible class members would be able to claim a portion of the fund subject to the $100 cap, and Google would implement the consent, toggling, and disclosure changes described in the filing.
The filings cited here set out both the monetary terms and the non-monetary remedies the parties agreed upon, while preserving Google's denial of wrongdoing as part of the settlement language.