Updated
September 7, 2026
Google account holders who turned off or paused Web & App Activity between July 1, 2016, and September 23, 2024, are automatically covered by the $425.7 million Rodriguez v. Google privacy verdict. There is no claim form to file: the trial judge left the judgment standing on August 28, 2026, and no money can be distributed until Google's expected appeal is resolved.
Current Status — September 2026
There is no claim form, no claims administrator, no claims period, and no money available to distribute. On August 28, 2026, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg refused to throw out the September 3, 2025 jury verdict, so the judgment against Google stands at the trial-court level. Google has said it disagrees with the verdict and will appeal, and no appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit had been confirmed on the public record as of September 7, 2026. Class members do not need to do anything to stay included.
Status
Verdict Stands — Appeal Expected
Jury found Google liable Sept 3, 2025 · Judge Seeborg denied Google's post-trial motions Aug 28, 2026 · Google has said it will appeal
Jury Award
$425.7 Million + Interest
verdict plus interest = $440,345,685.40 as of Mar 2, 2026 · a court judgment, not a settlement fund · ~$146.8M of it was awarded to Class Counsel as fees
Can I Claim?
No — No Claims Process Yet
~98M U.S. class members in two classes · no claim form, no administrator · inclusion is automatic from Google account records
What Happens Next
Ninth Circuit Appeal
no appellate briefing schedule had been announced as of Sept 7, 2026 · there is no claim deadline to miss
What Changed in August 2026
Judge Seeborg denied Google's renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law. Google had argued the plaintiffs failed to prove the class had a privacy interest in the app data at issue; the court found they produced enough common proof, writing that "Google can poke holes in all that evidence, but the decision to credit it or not is the province of the jury," and that "[t]hough the nature of the data certainly mattered, its content cannot be disentangled from the fact that Google collected it after it told users that it would not do so."The same order went against the plaintiffs on a second point. Their motion for a new trial — over the court's refusal to give a proposed jury instruction on proving "damage or loss" — was denied, with Seeborg finding they had not explained how the instruction could have changed the outcome.
Also on August 28, 2026, Seeborg awarded Class Counsel roughly $146.8 million in attorneys' fees, about one-third of the judgment, to be shared among Boies Schiller Flexner, Susman Godfrey and Morgan & Morgan. The award works out to counsel's lodestar of about $56.8 million — roughly 49,670 hours at a blended $1,143 hourly rate — with a 2.59 multiplier, and the court cited counsel's performance and the contingency risk they carried. Counsel had also asked for about $12.4 million in costs and $135,000 in service awards. Fees of this kind are paid out of the judgment rather than on top of it, so they reduce whatever would be left for the class if a distribution ever happens.
This is the second time the verdict has survived a post-trial challenge. On January 30, 2026, Seeborg refused to decertify the classes and, in the same order, denied the plaintiffs' request that Google disgorge an additional $2.36 billion in profits.
Important: the July 30, 2026 deadline to object to Class Counsel's fee application has passed and the fee award has been entered. It was never a claim deadline, and there is still nothing for class members to file.
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Who Is Affected?
Approximately 98 million Google account holders in the United States are in the two certified classes, based on court filings and account-settings data. Judge Seeborg refused to decertify the classes in January 2026, and they remain certified while any appeal plays out.Will There Be a Claim Form, and When?
Not yet — and possibly not for a while. There is no claim form and no active claims process. The trial court has now finished with the post-trial motions, but a jury verdict is not money in hand until any appeal is over. Only if the judgment survives and the court authorizes a distribution will a claims process open. If that happens, the official case site says class members will be notified directly and given instructions.Before any claims process could open:
• Google's expected Ninth Circuit appeal must be resolved
• The court must approve a plan for distributing the judgment
• A claims administrator must be appointed and notices sent to class members
Federal appeals commonly run a year or more, so a claims process is unlikely in the near term. There is also no guaranteed payout: if Google wins on appeal or the judgment is reduced, there may be little or nothing to distribute. For now, class members do nothing and stay automatically included.
What Are the Odds This Gets Settled or Paid Out?
We do not publish a numerical estimate, because the outcome now depends on an appellate court rather than on anything a reader can act on. What is known is that a jury found Google liable, the court entered judgment for the verdict plus interest, and the trial judge has twice declined to disturb that verdict. What is unresolved is whether the judgment survives review by the Ninth Circuit, is reduced, is settled, or is overturned. We will update this page as the courts act.How Do I Qualify For a Payout?
To potentially qualify, in your Google account settings, you must have had your "Web & App Activity" and/or "Supplemental Web & App Activity" settings turned off or paused at any time between July 1, 2016, and September 23, 2024. In addition, your activity on non-Google mobile apps must have still been sending your personal data to Google.How Much Could Each Person Get, and Will Proof Be Required?
There is no per-person payout, and the official case site does not list one. The $425.7 million verdict (plus interest) is a court judgment split between two certified classes of roughly 98 million people — it is not a settlement fund with a published per-claimant formula. Any eventual per-person amount would depend on whether the judgment survives, how many people are paid, attorneys' fees, and administrative costs, so we are not publishing a per-person estimate; we will update this page if the court approves a distribution.On proof: no proof requirements exist yet because no claims process has been approved. Class membership is tied to Google account records, so if claims ever open, eligibility would most likely be confirmed through those records, and any documentation that might be needed would be spelled out in the official notice. We will update this section once the court approves a claims process.
What is This Lawsuit About?
Rodriguez v. Google LLC alleged that Google unlawfully accessed and collected data from users' mobile devices even when the "Web & App Activity" and/or "Supplemental Web & App Activity" settings were turned off or paused in account settings. The plaintiffs claimed Google used embedded code — its Analytics for Firebase software development kit — inside non-Google apps to collect, save and use data about what users did in those apps, and that doing so after telling users it would not violated their privacy rights and California's Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA). The jury agreed on the privacy claims in September 2025.What Did the Jury Decide?
In September 2025, a federal jury found Google liable and awarded approximately $425.7 million in compensatory damages to the two certified classes. The jury concluded Google misled users and violated their privacy, but it declined to impose punitive damages. Judge Seeborg has since denied Google's post-trial motions to decertify the classes (January 30, 2026) and to overturn the verdict (August 28, 2026).How Much is the Settlement?
There is no settlement — this is a jury verdict. The jury awarded $425.7 million in damages, and the court entered judgment for the verdict plus interest, which the official case site says totaled $440,345,685.40 as of March 2, 2026. It is not a settlement fund. Google's motions to undo it have been denied, but the company has said it will appeal, so the amount is not final money to class members yet. About $146.8 million of the judgment has already been awarded to Class Counsel as fees.Who is Eligible?
The two certified classes cover U.S. Google account holders who had Web & App Activity or Supplemental Web & App Activity turned off or paused at any point between July 1, 2016, and September 23, 2024, and whose activity on non-Google mobile apps was still sent to Google. Class membership is confirmed from records tied to users' Google accounts, so there is nothing to sign up for.When Will Payments Be Made?
No payments can be distributed until Google's expected appeal is resolved and a distribution is approved. The trial court denied Google's motions on August 28, 2026, but that does not release money — it moves the case toward the Ninth Circuit. This could take a year or more, and there is no guarantee of a payout if the judgment is reduced or overturned.What Should I Do Now?
Nothing. No action is needed to remain part of the class, and there is no form to submit. Keep an eye on the email address and mailing address tied to your Google account for official notices, and check the official case website for updates. Treat any site that asks you to "file a claim" in this case, or that charges a fee to do so, as a scam — no claims process exists.Where Can I Get More Information?
You can visit the official case website at googlewebappactivitylawsuit.com, or follow updates on OpenClassActions.com. You may also contact the Notice Administrator or Class Counsel for questions about your eligibility or status. For a related Google privacy matter, see our coverage of the YouTube children's privacy settlement, or read about the Google real-time bidding (RTB) privacy settlement, which produced a new user control — now live as of April 24, 2026 — that limits the data Google shares during its ad auctions.How Do I File a Claim?
You cannot. There is no claim form, no claims administrator and no claims period, and there has been none at any point in this case. The court has not approved a settlement or a distribution plan. If a claims period opens in the future, instructions will be posted on the official case website and notices will be sent to class members.Until then, class members can:
• Do nothing and remain in the class.
• Exclude themselves by submitting a written request by the deadline.
To stay updated, check the official case website at googlewebappactivitylawsuit.com or follow updates here.
Important: There is no claim form. The trial judge left the verdict standing on August 28, 2026, Google has said it will appeal, and no court-approved claims process or payment date exists. Be cautious of any site asking you to "file a claim" or pay a fee for this case — class members do not need to do anything right now to stay included.
Sources
• Official case website, Rodriguez v Google LLC — home page and FAQ (verdict, judgment plus interest, no claims process)• Rodriguez et al. v. Google LLC et al., No. 3:20-cv-04688-RS (N.D. Cal.) — docket on CourtListener
• Order denying decertification and disgorgement, January 30, 2026 — order (PDF)
• MLex, "Google, plaintiffs denied judgment, new trial in US app-tracking case," August 28, 2026
• MediaPost, "Judge Refuses To Toss $425M Privacy Verdict Against Google," September 1, 2026
• ABA Journal, "Attorneys awarded $146.8M in fees after verdict against Google," September 2026
• Courthouse News Service, coverage of the fee hearing and fee order, August 2026
Filing Class Action Settlement Claims
Please note that your claim form will be rejected if you submit a settlement claim for payout with any fraudulent information. By providing this information and your sworn statement of its veracity, you agree to do so under the penalty of perjury. You would also be harming others that actually qualify for the class action settlement. If you are not sure whether or not you qualify for this class action settlement, visit the class action administrator's website below. OpenClassActions.com is only providing information and is not a class action administrator or a law firm. OpenClassActions is a participant in the Amazon affiliate advertising program and this post may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission or fees if you make a purchase via those links.
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Status
Verdict Stands — Appeal Expected
post-trial motions denied Aug 28, 2026 · Google has said it will appeal
Jury Award
$425.7 Million + Interest
Sept 3, 2025 verdict · $440,345,685.40 with interest as of Mar 2, 2026
Case Title
Rodriguez v. Google LLC
Case Number
3:20-cv-04688-RS
Court
U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
Judge
Hon. Richard Seeborg
Class Size
~98 million U.S. account holders (two classes)
Class Period
July 1, 2016 – September 23, 2024
Attorneys' Fees
~$146.8 Million Awarded
Aug 28, 2026 order · Boies Schiller Flexner, Susman Godfrey and Morgan & Morgan
Administrator
Notice administrator only — no claims administrator appointed
no claims process has been authorized, so there is nothing to administer yet
What Happens Next
Ninth Circuit Appeal
no appellate briefing schedule announced as of Sept 7, 2026
Proof Required
N/A — no claims process approved yet
Official Website
Google Web & App Activity Lawsuit
