Google has been denied its final attempt to evade a comprehensive privacy class action lawsuit alleging it collected users’ mobile device data without consent. The plaintiffs contend that Google violated their privacy by continuing to collect specific data on their devices after they turned off the supplemental Web & App Activity button.
On 7 January, Judge Richard Seeborg determined that Google must proceed to trial before a federal jury, dismissing the company’s assertions that users know that activating the off switch does not eliminate all tracking and that Google’s fundamental record-keeping practices do not cause harm. A jury trial is provisionally scheduled for 18 August 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Judge Seeborg noted that despite Google’s extensive and detailed privacy policy disclosures, this does not imply user consent to the tracking practices. He remarked that, from a reasonable user’s standpoint, whether the plaintiffs consented to the data collection remains ambiguous.
The judge referenced internal communications from Google indicating that the company was deliberately vague regarding the technical differences between data collected within a Google account and that gathered externally, as revealing the truth could alarm users.
The complaint alleges privacy breaches under the California Constitution and the Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act. Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, Susman Godfrey LLP, and Morgan & Morgan represent the plaintiffs, while Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP represent Google.
The case is Rodriguez v. Google LLC, N.D. Cal., No. 3:20-cv-04688
