Published
December 29, 2025
Updated
July 29, 2026
Google agreed to pay $350 million to settle a California class action alleging that Android phones used their owners’ paid cellular data in the background to send information to Google. If you used an Android phone with a cellular data plan while living in California at any time since August 9, 2016, you are covered — and there is no claim form to file.
Current Status
There is no claim form and no claim deadline in this case, so California class members do not file anything to be paid. A Santa Clara County jury returned a verdict for the class of $314,626,932 on July 1, 2025, and Google then agreed to a $350 million settlement resolving the case rather than continuing to litigate it. The final approval hearing was held February 24, 2026. As of July 29, 2026, no final approval order and no payment date had been located in public sources — a scheduled hearing is not an approval order. Class members are to receive a further court-authorized notice explaining how payment will be made once the court decides how the fund is distributed.StatusAwaiting Final ApprovalHearing held February 24, 2026; no approval order located as of July 29, 2026.
Claim DeadlineNoneNo claim form exists — nothing to file and no deadline to miss.
Settlement Fund$350,000,000About $35 million above the jury award · reduced by court-approved fees, costs and administration expenses
Proof RequiredAutomatic PaymentNo claim form to file — the court has not yet announced how the fund will be distributed.
What Was the Case About?
The complaint, filed August 9, 2019, alleged that Google’s Android operating system caused mobile phones to use their cellular data to transfer information to Google without the user’s permission. Plaintiffs alleged those transfers happened in the background and without notice, including when a phone was idle — not moving, not being touched, and with all apps closed — and that Google could have designed the transfers to run only over Wi-Fi but instead allowed them to run over cellular networks that users paid for.Google denied the allegations. It contended that the transfers provide benefits to users, that they could not practically be limited to Wi-Fi, and that they were disclosed and subject to user controls. The settlement resolves the claims; it is not an admission of wrongdoing.
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What Happened at Trial
The class was certified on October 26, 2023. Trial began June 2, 2025 in Santa Clara County Superior Court, and after roughly a month of testimony the jury reached a verdict on July 1, 2025 in favor of the class by a 9-3 vote, awarding $314,626,932 in damages.After the verdict, the parties negotiated a resolution instead of litigating post-trial motions and an appeal. The agreed cash amount is $350 million — approximately $35 million more than the jury awarded — and it also resolves pending plaintiff motions seeking pre-judgment interest, post-judgment interest, costs and injunctive relief. An earlier version of this page reported that Google intended to appeal the verdict; that is no longer accurate and has been corrected.
Who Is Covered?
The certified class is all natural persons who, while residing in California, used a mobile phone running a Google-licensed version of the Android operating system with a cellular data plan at any time from August 9, 2016 to the present.Excluded are Google and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers and directors; the judges assigned to the case and their immediate families; class counsel; and anyone who opted out of the class by the May 15, 2025 exclusion deadline. Android users outside California are not in this class — they fall under the separate federal settlement described below.
What Is the Settlement Worth?
The total cash fund is $350 million. Class counsel requested attorneys’ fees of 33 percent of the fund ($115,500,000) plus roughly $7 million in litigation costs advanced over more than six years, and the court held hearings on that request on November 14 and December 2, 2025. Whatever the court awards in fees, costs and administration expenses is deducted before the remainder is distributed to class members.The per-person figure has not been announced. It depends on the amounts the court approves and on how the court directs the fund to be allocated across the class, so any number circulating before the court rules is an estimate rather than an official figure. Funds are held in an interest-bearing account until distribution, and any amount that cannot practicably be distributed goes to a charitable recipient chosen by the parties and approved by the court.
Do I Need to File Anything?
No. There is no claim form, no claim deadline, and no documentation to gather. Eligible class members are to be paid without filing, and a further notice is to explain how payment will be made once the court decides the distribution method. Because there is no claim to submit, this page is marked Proof Required: Automatic Payment rather than Yes or No.The one optional step available is the Interest Registration Form on the official case website, which signs you up for email updates about the case. It is not a claim form and does not affect eligibility. Questions should go through the contact form on the official settlement website.
What Google Agreed to Change
Beyond the cash, the settlement requires Google to update materials that inform consumers about the data transfers at issue and to seek their consent, and to disable a related setting on Android devices. The proposed updates to Google’s Play Terms of Service, Help Center pages and Android setup screens are attached to the settlement agreement posted on the official case website.The Related Federal Settlement
This California state-court case runs parallel to the federal Android cellular data settlement, Taylor v. Google LLC (Case No. 5:20-cv-07956-VKD, N.D. Cal.), which covers Android users in the rest of the United States and carries a $135 million fund. Members of the California class are expressly excluded from the federal class, so a person is covered by one settlement or the other, not both. Together the two total $485 million.The two settlements are cross-contingent: if one is not approved, the other may be terminated as well. The federal settlement held its own final approval hearing on June 23, 2026, and as of July 29, 2026 no final approval order had been located there either.
Important Dates
• Complaint filed: August 9, 2019• Class period: August 9, 2016 to the present
• Class certified: October 26, 2023
• Class exclusion (opt-out) deadline: May 15, 2025
• Trial began: June 2, 2025
• Jury verdict: July 1, 2025 ($314,626,932)
• Objection deadline: February 10, 2026
• Final approval hearing: February 24, 2026
What Happens Next?
The remaining steps are the court’s ruling on final approval, resolution of any appeal, the court’s decision on how the fund is allocated, and distribution to class members. No final approval order and no payment date had been located as of July 29, 2026. Updates are posted on the official case website, Cellular Data Class Action.Official Court Notice
Sources
• Official case website: Cellular Data Class Action• Court-authorized notice of settlement and approval hearing posted by the settlement administrator
• Csupo v. Google LLC, Case No. 19CV352557, Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara
• OCA report: jury verdict and $350 million settlement
For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Settlement Fund
$350,000,000
Jury Verdict
$314,626,932
Returned July 1, 2025 by a 9-3 vote.
Defendant
Google LLC
Case
Csupo v. Google LLC
Case Number
19CV352557
Court
Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara
Class Period
August 9, 2016 to the present
Claim Deadline
None — no claim form
Final Approval Hearing
February 24, 2026
No approval order located as of July 29, 2026.
Status
Awaiting Final Approval — Automatic Payment
Official Website
Cellular Data Class Action
