People who used the “Track your package” widget on Google Search may be covered by a proposed class action alleging Google and UPS caused their tracking numbers and other data to be sent to advertising and analytics companies, despite a promise that only the tracking number would go to the carrier. No class has been certified and there is nothing to file yet.
Allegations Only · No Settlement Yet
This article describes a class action complaint. The statements below are unproven allegations. Google and UPS have not been found liable, have not yet responded in court, and there is no certified class and nothing to claim at this time. This page is informational. It is not legal advice.
What Is This About?
A proposed class action filed October 9, 2026 accuses Google LLC and United Parcel Service of America, Inc. of breaking a promise printed on Google Search’s “Track your package” widget. When someone searches a tracking number, the complaint says, Google shows the widget near the top of the results with a Track button and a line reading “Only your tracking number will be sent to UPS” (or to FedEx or USPS, depending on the carrier).The lawsuit claims that line was false. According to the complaint, clicking Track for a UPS package caused the user’s browser to fire 415 separate network requests to at least 28 domains, sending identifiers, cookies and, in many cases, the tracking number itself to companies including Meta (Facebook), Google’s DoubleClick and Google Analytics platforms, Adobe, Microsoft Bing, Quantum Metric, The Trade Desk, Yahoo and Tealium.
The case, No. 5:26-cv-11715-SVK, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose and is assigned to Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen. It is at the complaint stage. As of October 15, 2026, the docket shows no response from either company, and the allegations have not been tested in court.
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How the Widget Came About, According to the Complaint
The complaint traces the widget to late 2019, when Google announced what it called the Package Tracking Early Access Program, a feature letting shipping companies display package status directly in Google Search. The lawsuit says Google’s own announcement included a mock-up showing the line “Only tracking number will be sent to shipping company,” which it presents as evidence that the promise was part of the design from the start.To take part, the complaint says, a carrier had to build an API that would accept a tracking number from Google and return the package’s status. It alleges that Google’s requirements document stated Google did not accept personal or geographic data about a package’s sender or recipient, that Google reviewed and approved each carrier’s integration before switching it on, and that the program has since stopped accepting new partners. UPS, FedEx and USPS all joined, according to the filing.
The lawsuit treats the system as a joint product. It alleges that Google wrote the widget and its “Only your tracking number…” statement, that Google’s code sent UPS the user’s IP address, cookies, referrer and browser details along with the tracking number, and that UPS installed third-party tracking code on its website that ran as soon as the Track button sent a user there. It further claims Google reviewed, tested and approved UPS’s integration even though, in the plaintiffs’ view, it broke the promise on the widget.
What the Complaint Says Happens After Clicking Track
The core of the case is a set of network captures the plaintiffs’ lawyers describe in the filing. For a UPS package, the complaint lists domains it says received requests, among them ups.com, facebook.com, doubleclick.net, googletagmanager.com, bing.com, adsrvr.org, omtrdc.net, tealiumiq.com, quantummetric.com and yahoo.com. For a FedEx package, it says the same click produced 142 requests to at least 19 domains, among them api.fedex.com, assets.adobedtm.com, cdn.optimizely.com, match.adsrvr.org and www.google.com, and it names Adobe and The Trade Desk among the recipients of FedEx-flow data.The filing walks through what it says several recipients received in the UPS flow:
- Meta (Facebook): a PageView event, a Facebook browser ID, the page address containing the exact UPS tracking number, a millisecond timestamp and, for logged-in users, a cookie carrying the person’s Facebook account ID.
- Google DoubleClick and Google Analytics: the page title and address, again including the tracking number, plus advertising and client identifiers, a session ID, screen dimensions and a setting the complaint says indicated personalized ads were enabled.
- Adobe: the tracking number in several parameters, Adobe’s Experience Cloud visitor ID, and identifiers belonging to Quantum Metric and Tealium bundled into the same request. The complaint says this data went to a UPS-branded address that is an alias for an Adobe-controlled domain.
- Tealium: the tracking number, Tealium’s own visitor and session IDs, and identifiers tied to Facebook, Google Analytics, Adobe, Quantum Metric, Microsoft and The Trade Desk.
- Quantum Metric: the tracking number and a real-time recording of the user’s screen, mouse movements and keyboard inputs on the UPS site.
The complaint says every recipient also got the user’s IP address and browser user-agent, which it claims can reveal a user’s general location, including whether the user was in California. It also argues that a UPS tracking number is more revealing than it looks: entered on the UPS site, it can show the recipient’s name, the sender’s and recipient’s locations, the shipment’s history, the service level and whether the delivery address is residential.
From that data, the lawsuit claims, the carriers and outside companies could learn or deduce shipping details, browsing and visit history, site interactions, form entries, demographic inferences, interests, shopping behavior, device details, referring pages, session information, persistent user identifiers and general location. It alleges the information was used to build profiles and audience segments and to target advertising, and that Google and, on information and belief, UPS profited from it. Apart from Google’s own ad and analytics platforms, the outside companies named in the complaint are not defendants.
Who Is in the Proposed Class
The complaint asks the court to certify two groups under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) and (b)(3):- A nationwide class of all persons who used the “Track your package” widget on Google Search in the United States and clicked or pressed the Track button.
- A California subclass of class members who used the widget and clicked or pressed Track while located in California.
As written, neither definition is limited to UPS shipments, even though UPS is the only carrier sued. The two named plaintiffs are California residents who say they used the widget for UPS, FedEx and, in one case, USPS packages during the past year. A judge decides later whether either group can proceed as a class; filing the complaint does not make anyone a class member with a claim to file. More on that step is in the class certification explainer.
The Five Legal Claims
The complaint pleads five causes of action:- Invasion of privacy, for the nationwide class, relying in part on the privacy guarantee in article I, section 1 of the California Constitution.
- Intrusion upon seclusion, for the nationwide class, alleging the companies placed outside parties in the middle of communications they were never invited into.
- Wiretapping under California Invasion of Privacy Act § 631, for the California subclass only, alleging Google and UPS aided or permitted the third parties to read communications between users and the carriers while in transit.
- Common-law fraud, deceit and/or misrepresentation, for the nationwide class, alleging Google made the “Only your tracking number…” statement and UPS knowingly helped by configuring its site to send the extra data.
- Unjust enrichment, for the nationwide class, pleaded separately and in the alternative, alleging both companies benefited from users’ data and that it would be unjust for them to keep those benefits.
The case is in federal court under the Class Action Fairness Act; the complaint says more than $5,000,000 is in controversy and that at least one defendant is a citizen of a different state from the plaintiffs. Google is a Delaware company based in Mountain View, California, and United Parcel Service of America is a Delaware corporation based in Atlanta, according to the filing.
What the Lawsuit Asks For
The plaintiffs ask the court to certify the class and subclass and appoint their lawyers as class counsel. They seek compensatory damages, including statutory damages where available, with interest; punitive damages; nominal damages; full restitution; disgorgement of revenue and profits; a temporary and permanent injunction against the practices described; and attorneys’ fees and costs. For the California subclass, the CIPA claim requests the greater of $5,000 or three times actual damages for each violation. The plaintiffs demand a jury trial.These are requests, not awards. No court has found that Google or UPS did anything wrong, and the amount of any recovery, if there ever is one, would depend on rulings that have not happened.
What Happens Next
In a typical federal class action, the defendants are served and then either answer the complaint or ask the court to dismiss some or all of the claims. In privacy cases, early motions commonly test questions such as consent and whether a statute covers the conduct alleged. If claims survive, the parties exchange evidence in discovery, and the plaintiffs later move for class certification. Many cases settle at some point along the way; others are dismissed or go to trial.The case is currently assigned to a magistrate judge. Under federal law, a magistrate judge can preside over the whole case only if every party consents; if any party declines, the case is reassigned to a district judge. A settlement, if one is ever reached, would need court approval and would come with a formal notice describing who qualifies and how to claim.
Questions
Are FedEx and USPS defendants in the Google package tracking lawsuit?
Neither company is a defendant. The only defendants are Google LLC and United Parcel Service of America, Inc. FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service appear in the complaint because the “Track your package” widget also works with their tracking numbers, and the complaint describes data it says was sent when a FedEx package was tracked, but no claim is brought against either carrier.
What does the complaint say the Google widget told users?
According to the complaint, the widget displayed a line next to its Track button stating that only the user’s tracking number would be sent to the selected carrier, worded for UPS as “Only your tracking number will be sent to UPS.” The lawsuit claims that statement was false because clicking the button caused far more data to be sent, and to companies other than the carrier.
What does the lawsuit say Quantum Metric received?
The complaint alleges that once a user clicked Track for a UPS package and landed on the UPS website, code on that site started recording the user’s screen and mouse movements and keyboard inputs and sent the recording to Quantum Metric, a session-replay analytics company, in real time. It also says the UPS tracking number reached Quantum Metric in the request itself. Quantum Metric is not a defendant, and none of these claims has been tested in court.
Who is in the proposed class in the Google and UPS tracking lawsuit?
The complaint proposes a nationwide class of everyone who used the “Track your package” widget on Google Search in the United States and clicked or pressed the Track button, plus a California subclass of class members who did so while located in California. As written, the class definition is not limited to UPS packages. A court has not certified either group.
How much money does the CIPA claim seek?
The wiretapping claim under California Penal Code § 631 is brought only for the California subclass. It seeks statutory damages under Penal Code § 637.2 of the greater of $5,000 or three times actual damages for each violation, along with an injunction. Those figures are what the complaint requests; nothing has been awarded, and any recovery would depend on how the court rules.
Can people who used Google’s package tracking widget file a claim?
There is nothing to file. The case was filed on October 9, 2026, Google and UPS have not yet responded in court, no class has been certified, and there is no settlement, fund or claim form. If the case later produces a settlement or a judgment for a class, the court would approve a notice explaining any claim process.
Sources
- CourtListener docket — No. 5:26-cv-11715-SVK (N.D. Cal.)
- Class action complaint — filed October 9, 2026 (88 pages)
