Rodriguez v Google LLC Lawsuit: Allegations, Verdict, and Payouts

Rodriguez v. Google is a federal class action in which a California jury found that Google collected app-activity data from roughly 98 million people who had switched off the company’s “Web & App Activity” privacy setting, and awarded $425.7 million in damages on September 3, 2025.¹ Google is fighting to have the verdict thrown out, and as of mid-2026 no money has been paid to class members.²

What Google Was Accused of Doing

Google’s account settings let users switch off (or “pause”) a control called “Web & App Activity,” which the company described as stopping the tracking of activity inside apps. The plaintiffs said Google kept collecting that data anyway. According to the complaint, Google gathered information about what users did inside non-Google apps such as Uber, Venmo, TikTok, Instagram, and WhatsApp through code embedded in those apps, specifically the Firebase Software Development Kit and the Google Mobile Ads SDK.³

The suit framed that conduct as an invasion of privacy and an intrusion upon seclusion under California law, and also as a violation of the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act.³ At trial, plaintiffs’ lawyers pointed to internal Google communications indicating that senior employees knew the representations about the setting were inaccurate and problematic.⁴

Google’s defense at trial was that any data collected was anonymized and aggregated, that its systems were built to keep personally identifiable information out, and that no “shadow accounts” tied the data to individual users.⁵ A Google executive conceded the company collects “considerable” data but disputed the plaintiffs’ characterizations of the volume at issue.⁶

Who Is Covered by the Class

The class period runs from July 1, 2016, through September 23, 2024. To be a class member, a person had to have their “Web & App Activity” or “supplemental Web & App Activity” setting turned off or paused during that window while a non-Google app on their phone transmitted activity data to Google through the Firebase SDK or the Google Mobile Ads SDK.² The class includes both Android and non-Android users and totals about 98 million people.⁷

Two categories are treated differently. Enterprise accounts managed by an organization and supervised accounts for children under 13 were excluded from the invasion-of-privacy and intrusion claims, though they remain in the class for the California computer fraud statute claim.³ The deadline to opt out has already passed; it was February 20, 2025.²

The case is styled Rodriguez et al. v. Google LLC et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-04688, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, before Chief Judge Richard Seeborg. The defendants are Google LLC and its parent, Alphabet Inc.⁸

What the Jury Decided

After about three weeks of trial, jurors found Google liable for invasion of privacy and intrusion upon seclusion and awarded $425.7 million in compensatory damages, split into $247 million for Android users and $178 million for non-Android users.¹ Spread across the class, that comes to roughly $4 per person.⁷

The jury rejected two other parts of the plaintiffs’ case. It found Google did not violate the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, and it declined to award punitive damages, concluding the violations were not committed with “malice, oppression or fraud.”¹

The plaintiffs’ damages model, built partly on an internal Google analysis putting a dollar value on the data at issue, had asked for roughly $31 billion. Lead trial counsel David Boies said the verdict came in at “more than 80% of what our expert calculated the value of the data taken to be,” and that jurors likely reduced the amount because Apple users were “less affected because of changes Apple had made to protect their privacy” during part of the class period.⁴ Jurors told reporters afterward they awarded damages because “there was a value to the data Google took.”⁵

What Has Happened Since the Verdict

Both sides asked the trial judge to change the outcome. On January 30, 2026, Judge Seeborg issued a 19-page order denying the biggest requests from each side.

The plaintiffs asked the court to order Google to disgorge $2.36 billion in profits from the unauthorized data collection. Seeborg refused. He ruled that the plaintiffs had not shown “prospective, irreparable harm” justifying an injunction, that their estimate of Google’s profits was “insufficiently supported,” and that disgorgement was inappropriate when the jury had already awarded compensatory damages of over $425 million. “Federal equitable jurisdiction is to act as a gap filler where legal remedies are inadequate,” Seeborg wrote, “not to give a plaintiff a second bite at the apple.”⁹ The judge also noted Google had updated its privacy disclosures, which weakened the case for a forward-looking injunction.¹⁰

Google, for its part, asked the court to decertify the class and throw out the verdict entirely. Seeborg denied that request, leaving the $425 million judgment intact. Both parties have continued filing motions targeting different aspects of the verdict.⁶

Will Class Members Get Paid

Not yet, and not for a while. As of mid-2026, no funds have been distributed. With accrued interest, the judgment stood at $440,345,685.40 as of March 2, 2026.³ Google has formally asked the court to vacate the judgment and is expected to appeal.²

There is no claims process open. If money eventually becomes available after litigation and appeals end, class members will be notified with instructions for submitting a claim.² Even at that point, individual payouts will be modest: the jury award works out to roughly $4 per class member before fees and costs.⁷

Class counsel has applied for 33% of the total judgment in attorney fees, plus $12,422,374.42 in litigation costs and $135,000 in service awards for the three class representatives. Class members who want to object to that request have until July 30, 2026, to file a written objection with the court.³

The case’s official website, googlewebappactivitylawsuit.com, and the notice administrator at 1-855-822-8821 remain the places to track new developments and future payment instructions.³

1
Kiplinger. Google Class Action Lawsuit: Do You Qualify for a Payout
2
Google Web & App Activity Lawsuit. Rodriguez v. Google LLC Official Website
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Google Web & App Activity Lawsuit. Rodriguez v. Google LLC FAQ
4
Lawdragon. Breaking New Ground With the Oldest Law on the Books: BSF Takes on Google and Wins
5
Courthouse News Service. Jury Slams Google Over App Data Collection to Tune of $425 Million
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Law360. Rodriguez et al v. Google LLC et al Case Articles
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Bloomberg Law. Google Violated Privacy of Nearly 100 Million Users, Jury Finds
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CourtListener. Rodriguez v. Google LLC Docket
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Courthouse News Service. Judge Denies Disgorgement, Decertification Efforts in Google Privacy Suit
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Reuters. Google Defeats Bid for Billions of Dollars in New Penalties in US Privacy Class Action