Google Web and App Activity Tracking Privacy Lawsuit No Settlement Amount Yet

Rodriguez v. Google LLC is a proposed class action centered on a common consumer expectation: if you pause or turn off Google’s “Web & App Activity” (and related “Supplemental Web & App Activity”) in your account settings, your off-Google app behavior shouldn’t keep flowing back to Google for storage and use. The lawsuit alleges that, between July 1, 2016 and September 23, 2024, Google still accessed and collected data from users’ mobile devices through embedded code in third‑party (non‑Google) apps—effectively allowing Google to observe in‑app activity even when users believed they had opted out. The case points to California’s Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA) as a key legal hook, framing the alleged data collection as unauthorized access rather than merely an unwanted business practice. The suit was filed to test whether “opt-out” privacy controls were meaningful in practice and to seek damages and injunctive relief that could force clearer disclosures or stricter technical limits on data collection. Its significance is broader than any eventual payout (none is set yet): it challenges how platforms interpret consent when tracking occurs via software development kits, pixels, or other embedded code supplied to app developers. Similar privacy disputes have targeted “tracking despite settings,” cross‑app analytics, and opaque data sharing, reflecting a wider industry tension between ad/measurement needs and user control; the outcome could influence how companies design consent flows, audit partners, and document data practices under U.S. state privacy laws (like the CCPA/CPRA in California) and longstanding consumer‑protection expectations about truthful settings and disclosures.