Google to face trial over mobile phone privacy class action, here's why

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Google failed to persuade a federal judge to dismiss a privacy class action after claims of collecting personal data from mobile devices despite users disabling tracking settings. A federal judge has rejected the argument that the company disclosed about how its Web & App Activity settings worked. This has now paved the way for a possible August trial.

According to Reuters, Chief Judge Richard Seeborg of the federal court in San Francisco rejected arguments that the search engine company adequately disclosed how its Web & App Activity settings work after users consented to the tracking. The lawsuit was initially filed in 2020 and accused Google of collecting location data from smartphone users even after they turned the location tracking setting off in their privacy settings.

The tech giant had also argued that this method was a basic record-keeping technique after users of Android and non-Android mobile devices accused Google of invading their privacy. This was followed by California law against unauthorized fraudulent computer access from Google by intercepting and saving the user’s personal browsing histories without consent.

Google added a statement on Wednesday regarding the matter: “Privacy controls have long been built into our service, and the allegations here are a deliberate attempt to mischaracterize the way our products work. We will continue to make our case in court against these patently false claims.” A jury trial is now scheduled for August 18, 2025.