Google has reached a $135 million settlement in a class action lawsuit that accused its Android operating system of unauthorized collection of users’ cellular data. The preliminary agreement, filed in a federal court in California and reported by Reuters, pertains to individuals who have utilized Android-based mobile devices since November 12, 2017. The plaintiffs alleged that Google gathered data even when applications were inactive, location sharing was turned off, or devices were locked, claiming this action as an unlawful “conversion” of their purchased mobile data for Google’s benefit in product development and advertising.
In response to the settlement, Google has refuted any wrongdoing but has agreed to the terms, pending approval from a judge, as disclosed in the Reuters report. The terms of the settlement require Google to abstain from data transfers without user consent during phone setup and enhance the process for users to halt these transfers. Additionally, Google will update its disclosures within the Google Play terms of service, as per the report.
