U.S. consumers who last month won a $425 million jury verdict against Google in a major privacy class action have now urged a federal judge to make the tech giant forfeit an additional $2.36 billion in profits.
In a filing on Wednesday, the plaintiffs called the proposed amount a “conservative approximation” of Google’s unlawful gains after a jury found that the company secretly collected app activity data from millions of users who had disabled account tracking features.
“The jury found that Google’s conduct was highly offensive, harmful, and without consent,” the consumers told Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco, who will determine whether disgorgement of profits is permissible and necessary in the case.
The plaintiffs argued that the $425 million verdict alone is “clearly insufficient to remedy the ongoing and irreparable harm” caused by Google’s actions.
Google, which has denied any wrongdoing, said it plans to appeal the verdict, maintaining that the data collected was anonymized and that its privacy tools give users control over their personal information.
The 2020 lawsuit alleged that over an eight-year period, Google accessed users’ mobile devices to collect, store, and use data — in violation of its own privacy assurances related to the Web & App Activity account setting.
The jury ultimately found Google liable on two of three privacy claims, though the plaintiffs had originally sought over $31 billion in damages at trial.
Despite the verdict, the plaintiffs said Google has not altered its privacy disclosures or data collection practices.
In response, Google on Wednesday filed its own motion asking Judge Seeborg to decertify the class of 98 million users and 174 million devices, arguing that the claims depend on individual factors such as each user’s app activity and expectations of privacy. The company also urged the court to vacate the verdict, citing what it called a lack of common issues across the class.
