GROUNDBREAKING VERDICT: A CALIFORNIA JURY RULES GOOGLE SWIPED DATA FROM UNSUSPECTING ANDROID USERS - EVEN WHEN THEIR PHONES WERE IDLE

Jury Awards over $314 Million Dollars in Damages to 14 Million Android Users in California

Attorneys from Bartlit Beck, LLP and Korein Tillery Represented the Residents of California: "This may be just the tip of the iceberg"

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 2, 2025 -- A California state court jury has awarded $314,626,932 in damages to a class of 14 million Android users in California in a groundbreaking verdict against Google. The team argued and a jury agreed that Google's Android operating system was designed to secretly transmit a wide range of information about users to Google servers without notice or consent, even when users were not on Wi-Fi, thereby consuming their cellular data.

The trial, Csupo v. Google, was led by Bartlit Beck trial attorneys Glen Summers, Karma Giulianelli, Hamilton Hill and Lin Brenza, and co-counsel from Korein Tillery. 

This appears to be the first time a jury has found that unauthorized consumption of cellular data by a tech company constitutes "conversion"—a legal theory typically reserved for theft or misuse of tangible property. The win sets a powerful precedent in the emerging area of data-as-property law and could open the door to a wave of class actions challenging covert data practices.

Tech companies operating in California—a jurisdiction known for its strong privacy and consumer protection laws—will be under new scrutiny as a result. Bartlit Beck LLP and Korein Tillery are scheduled to represent a class of nation-wide Android users in a separate trial scheduled for April 2026. The damages in that case are expected to be an order of magnitude greater.

"We're deeply gratified by the jury's verdict. The evidence at trial revealed that Google secretly collects a massive amount of information from Android smartphones, and needlessly consumes Android owners' cellular data without their consent to do so. The evidence also revealed that for many years Google has known that Android settings which purport to allow users to turn off background mobile data usage are largely illusory and do not stop the transfers. With its verdict, the jury sends a loud message to Google that it must actually honor its commitment to respect user choice and not just pay lip service to it," said Glen Summers, Partner at Bartlit Beck LLP.

Media contact: 
Rich Bamberger
[email protected] 

SOURCE Bartlit Beck, LLP