Improper Data Collection Suit Against Google Will Proceed

A federal judge recently denied Google’s motion to dismiss a class-action lawsuit filed by Android users. The plaintiffs alleged improper data collection by the company after they disabled the Web and App Activity (WAA) setting. The court ruled that the claims were plausible, writes Michael Gennaro in Court House News.

The lawsuit, initiated in 2020, will center on users’ belief that the WAA toggle on Android devices would stop all data collection when turned off. Plaintiffs argue that Google misled users by continuing to collect pooled and potentially identifiable data despite the toggle being disabled.

Google had requested summary judgment, maintaining that the data collected was anonymized and used solely to assist third-party app developers. The controversy was compounded by internal Google communications from 2017–2020, revealing employee concerns over the WAA toggle’s clarity.

U.S. Chief District Judge Richard Seeborg of the Northern District of California denied Google’s request, finding that reasonable users could misunderstand the toggle and that Google’s actions may extend beyond simple record-keeping.

“What is more, the remarks and Google’s internal statements reflect a conscious decision to keep the WAA disclosures vague, which could suggest that Google acted highly offensively, thereby satisfying the intent element of the tort claim,” Seeborg wrote.

The court also rejected Google’s argument that data collection was justified through third-party developers’ permission, emphasizing that such vendor-based consent had not been legally upheld.

This ruling illustrates how judicial scrutiny of improper data collection and vendor-based consent models is evolving, as are the implications for data privacy compliance in class actions. Technology agreements should be scrutinized for clear privacy disclosures and robust consent mechanisms.