The Oracle America privacy lawsuit, formally Katz-Lacabe et al. v. Oracle America, Inc., is a consumer class action that ended in a $115 million settlement over claims Oracle secretly tracked people’s online and offline activity and sold their personal data without consent. A federal judge in the Northern District of California gave final approval in November 2024, the Ninth Circuit rejected an objector’s appeal in February 2026, and as of mid-2026 the settlement’s effective date has not been declared and payments to class members have not gone out.1Reuters. Oracle Reaches $115 Mln Consumer Privacy Settlement2Katz Privacy Settlement. Katz-Lacabe et al v. Oracle America, Inc. Settlement
What Oracle Was Accused of Doing
Three plaintiffs — privacy activist Michael Katz-Lacabe, University of Maryland professor Jennifer Golbeck, and Irish Council for Civil Liberties fellow Johnny Ryan — filed the suit on August 19, 2022. They alleged Oracle had built a surveillance operation that pulled names, addresses, purchase histories, physical movements, and political, religious, and health information from millions of websites and apps, without meaningful consent from the people being tracked.3ClassAction.org. Katz-Lacabe et al v. Oracle America, Inc. Complaint1Reuters. Oracle Reaches $115 Mln Consumer Privacy Settlement According to the complaint, Oracle’s tools could get around browser privacy settings and track users on VPNs. Katz-Lacabe himself said he received a document from Oracle in May 2022 showing the company had compiled a profile of his web activity despite the precautions he had taken.
The complaint pointed to specific Oracle advertising products as the machinery behind the data business: BlueKai, AddThis, the Oracle Data Cloud, ID Graph, and Data Marketplace. Together, the plaintiffs said, they let Oracle assemble detailed consumer profiles and sell access to them to advertisers.4Privacy International. Oracle The legal claims ran under the Federal Wiretap Act, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act, state common-law privacy rights, and unfair competition statutes.5Lawfold. Oracle America Lawsuit
Oracle denied wrongdoing throughout, and the settlement contains no admission of liability. Ryan, at filing, called Oracle “a Fortune 500 company on a dangerous mission to track where every person in the world goes.”6Law Society of Ireland Gazette. Oracle Faces Class Action Over Privacy
Who Is Covered and What the Settlement Pays
The class covers all U.S. residents whose personal information was collected by Oracle Advertising technologies, or made available through ID Graph, Data Marketplace, or any other Oracle Advertising product, from August 19, 2018 through the date of final judgment.7Katz Privacy Settlement. Frequently Asked Questions The claims deadline was October 17, 2024, and Angeion Group is administering claims. If you did not file by that deadline, you are not in line for a payment.
The $115 million fund is reduced by court-approved deductions before it is split among claimants. Those deductions can include up to $28.75 million (25%) in attorneys’ fees, up to $225,000 in litigation expenses, up to $10,000 each for the two class representatives as service awards, and the administrator’s costs. What remains is divided pro rata and equally: every valid claimant receives the same share, regardless of where they live or what type of Oracle tracking they experienced. Because the per-person amount depends on how many valid claims came in, the settlement administrator has not published a precise figure.7Katz Privacy Settlement. Frequently Asked Questions
What Oracle Agreed to Change
Alongside the money, Oracle agreed to stop capturing user-generated information within referrer URLs (the address of the page a visitor came from) and to stop collecting text users type into online forms on sites other than Oracle’s own. Oracle also committed to an audit program checking whether its customers were following contractual privacy obligations. These commitments last as long as Oracle offers the products described in the complaint.2Katz Privacy Settlement. Katz-Lacabe et al v. Oracle America, Inc. Settlement8RegMedia. Oracle Privacy Data Settlement Agreement
Much of that relief was overtaken by events. In June 2024, on its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings call, Oracle announced it was exiting the advertising business entirely. All Oracle Advertising products, including Moat Analytics, Oracle Contextual Intelligence, and the data management platform, shut down by September 30, 2024.9Oracle. Oracle Advertising EOL Frequently Asked Questions10The Register. Oracle Is Shutting Down Its Once $2B Advertising Business8RegMedia. Oracle Privacy Data Settlement Agreement
The Appeal and Why Payments Are Delayed
Chief Judge Richard Seeborg granted final approval on November 15, 2024, over 28 objections, finding the settlement gave the class “substantial benefits.”11Mealey’s Litigation Report. Final Approval Given to $115 Million Settlement of Oracle Data Collection Suit One objector, California resident Sarah Feldman, took the case to the Ninth Circuit. She argued that the district court had not adequately weighed the risks of pushing forward with litigation when it accepted the $115 million figure, and that the equal-payout formula shortchanged class members in California and Florida whose claims under state privacy laws were more valuable.12Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Katz-Lacabe v. Oracle, No. 24-7648
The Ninth Circuit rejected both arguments on February 13, 2026. The panel noted that no California or Florida subclass had been certified and that anyone who thought their claim was worth more could have opted out of the nationwide settlement.12Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Katz-Lacabe v. Oracle, No. 24-7648 The court’s mandate issued on March 31, 2026, starting the clock toward the settlement’s effective date.2Katz Privacy Settlement. Katz-Lacabe et al v. Oracle America, Inc. Settlement
That effective date is the trigger for calculating and mailing payments, and until it is declared no money can go out. Class counsel has said it expects the effective date “within the next few months” following the mandate; as of mid-2026, it has not been declared.2Katz Privacy Settlement. Katz-Lacabe et al v. Oracle America, Inc. Settlement
If You Filed a Claim
Nothing more is required from claimants at this stage. Payments will be calculated pro rata once the effective date is set, and every valid claim receives the same share. The claims deadline of October 17, 2024, has passed, so late filings are not being accepted.7Katz Privacy Settlement. Frequently Asked Questions Updates on the effective date and payment timing are being posted by the settlement administrator on the case’s official website. If your contact information has changed since you filed, updating it with the administrator now avoids a delivery problem when checks are issued.