Federal Cellular Class Action: Eligibility, Amount, and Payout Date

If you used an Android phone or tablet in the United States to go online over a cellular network between November 12, 2017 and the date the court finalizes the deal, you are likely covered by the federal cellular class action settlement with Google and do not need to file a claim to be included. The proposed $135 million settlement in Taylor v. Google LLC is awaiting final approval, with a hearing set for June 23, 2026. An estimated 100 million people qualify, and realistic payouts are expected to be about one dollar per person.¹²

Who Qualifies for a Payment

The class covers any person in the U.S. who used a mobile device running Android to access the internet over a cellular data network at any point from November 12, 2017 through final approval of the settlement.²

Two exclusions matter. California Android users are not part of this deal. They are covered by a separate case, Csupo v. Google LLC, which produced a $350 million resolution of its own.³²⁴

You are limited to one payment regardless of how many Android devices or email addresses you had during the eligibility period.²

How to Receive Your Payment

There is no claim form. If you qualify and did not opt out, you are automatically included. But to actually receive the money, the administrator asks class members to complete a Payment Election Form at FederalCellularClassAction.com and choose how to be paid.⁴

Available payment methods are PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, or a paper check mailed to your last known address.⁴ To finish the form, you need a notice ID and confirmation code, which were sent to class members by email or physical mail. If you have not received a notice but believe you qualify, you can contact the administrator at 1-844-655-4255 or Info@FederalCellularClassAction.com.⁵

Skipping the form is risky. The settlement website warns that if you do not pick a payment method and the administrator’s automatic outreach cannot reach you, you may not get paid at all.²

How Much to Expect

Individual payments are capped at $100 and distributed on a pro rata basis after attorneys’ fees, administration costs, litigation expenses, and service awards for the named plaintiffs come out of the $135 million fund.⁶

With roughly 100 million people potentially eligible, class counsel does not expect anyone to hit the $100 cap. Time estimated the realistic per-person payment at just over one dollar.¹ The fund is non-reversionary, meaning no unclaimed money goes back to Google; if a second distribution is not practical, leftover funds go to a court-approved organization.⁶

When Payments Will Go Out

The final approval hearing is scheduled for June 23, 2026 at 10:00 AM Pacific before Magistrate Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. No money moves until the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved.⁷

The deadlines to opt out or object both expired on May 29, 2026. Class members who submitted objections can appear at the June 23 hearing to raise them with the court.⁸

Is the Notice You Received Real?

The emails and letters going out about this case are legitimate. The lawsuit is filed in federal court as Case No. 5:20-cv-07956-VKD, Northern District of California, and the official settlement website is FederalCellularClassAction.com.⁷

Class action settlements do attract scammers, though. A real notice from this administrator will not ask for your Social Security number, bank account number, or credit card number, and it will never charge an upfront fee. If a message demands any of those, it is not from the settlement administrator. Suspected fraud can be reported to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.⁹

What the Case Was About

The plaintiffs alleged that Android devices routinely sent information to Google’s servers over cellular connections, even when phones were idle, all apps were closed, or location sharing was off. The theory was “conversion”: that the cellular data users paid their carriers for was property, and Google used it for its own benefit without permission.¹⁰¹¹ Plaintiffs said Google could have routed those transmissions over Wi-Fi but chose cellular, and used the collected data for targeted advertising and product development.¹²

Google denied wrongdoing. Spokesperson José Castañeda called the claims a mischaracterization of “standard industry practices that keep Android safe,” and the company said in filings that the transfers supported security updates and other routine functions and that users consented through terms of use and device settings.¹¹¹³

Besides the cash fund, the settlement requires Google to update its Google Play Terms of Service, Help Center page, and Android setup screens to disclose that background data transfers happen and that some cannot be turned off. New users will see a specific “Use of cellular data” disclosure during device setup, and Google must gray out the Google Play services mobile background data toggle for at least two years.⁶¹⁰

1
Time. Google Android Settlement Payment
2
FederalCellularClassAction.com. Settlement FAQs
3
CellularDataClassAction.com. Csupo et al v. Google LLC Settlement
4
ClassAction.org. $135M Google Settlement Resolves Android Cellular Data Class Action
5
NewsNation. Google Android Settlement
6
Justia. Preliminary Approval Order, Taylor et al v. Google LLC
7
FederalCellularClassAction.com. Federal Cellular Class Action Settlement
8
CNET. Used an Android Phone After 2017? You Could Get Part of Google’s $135 Million Settlement
9
LawInfo. Class Action Lawsuit Scams: How to Protect Yourself
10
ClassAction.org. Taylor et al v. Google LLC Notice
11
Clarion Ledger. How Much Will You Get in the Google Settlement
12
Claims Journal. Google Hit With $314 Million Verdict in Android Data Suit
13
MediaPost. Google to Pay $135M to Settle Claims It Hijacked Data