Google agrees $135M Android settlement

Google has agreed to put $135 million into a settlement fund after a lawsuit said Android phones were sending data back to Google over paid cellular connections even when the phones were sitting idle with the screen locked. The proposed class covers more than 100 million people in the United States who used an Android phone with a cellular data plan from November 12, 2017 until final approval. (classaction.org, topclassactions.com) The core claim was not just “Google collected data.” The claim was that Google used customers’ metered mobile data like a company plugging its machine into your wall socket and leaving you with the power bill. (classaction.org, topclassactions.com) The lawsuit said these transfers happened in the background through Android system software, not because a person opened an app and tapped refresh. Plaintiffs said the traffic continued when devices were “idle and not in use,” which is why the case turned into a fight over consent and who paid for the data being consumed. (topclassactions.com, cnet.com) This case has been running for years in federal court in Northern California under the name Taylor v. Google LLC. The settlement notice says Google denies doing anything wrong, which is standard language in deals like this, but it still agreed to a nonreversionary fund, meaning the $135 million is set aside for the class rather than snapping back to Google. (classaction.org, topclassactions.com) There is one big carveout: California residents in a similar state case called Csupo v. Google LLC are excluded from this federal settlement. That split exists because California users were already covered by separate litigation over similar Android data-transfer claims. (classaction.org, topclassactions.com) The practical part is unusually simple. Multiple settlement trackers report that eligible class members do not need to file a traditional claim form, and can instead choose a payment method on the settlement site so the money reaches the right account. (topclassactions.com, openclassactions.com) The current deadline being reported to exclude yourself or object is May 29, 2026, and the final approval hearing is scheduled for June 23, 2026. Reported payout estimates are small on a per-person basis because the class is so large, with some trackers putting it around $1 to $1.50 each if participation is broad. (openclassactions.com, theclassactionlawsuit.com) What makes this case stick is that it turns an abstract privacy argument into a very ordinary consumer complaint. People understand “my phone sent data I didn’t approve” faster than they understand a 40-page argument about digital tracking. (cnet.com, classaction.org) It also lands after a run of other Google privacy and platform cases, including a $314.6 million California jury verdict in 2025 over similar Android data-transfer allegations and a separate $700 million Google Play Store antitrust settlement that states were still discussing in late 2025. Different cases, different facts, same pattern: software behavior that most users never see can still become very expensive in court. (topclassactions.com, attorneygeneral.gov) For Android users, the thread running through all of this is simple: background software is not really “background” when it touches your battery, your bandwidth, or your bill. For Google, $135 million is the price of ending one case before a trial decides whether that hidden traffic crossed the line. (courthousenews.com, classaction.org)