Google Fined IDR 6.9 Trillion For Cases Of User Privacy Violations

Google is fined for case of violation of user privacy (photo: dock. unsplash)

JAKARTA The US federal jury stated that Google must pay a fine of 425 million US dollars (Rp 6.9 trillion) for cases of violation of user privacy. This decision was made on Wednesday, September 3, 2025.

This decision was made after Google attended a trial at the San Francisco federal court. The tech company is accused of collecting user data even though they have disabled the tracking feature on its device.

This action is thought to have been running for eight years. By illegally collecting, storing, and using user data, Google is deemed to have violated privacy guarantees based on Web Activity and Application settings.

During the trial, the jury stated that Google was responsible for two of the three charges. Despite being fined, Google has to spend far less than the demands for compensation submitted, reaching 31 billion US dollars (Rp509 trillion).

The jury decided that Google did not act with malicious intent. Therefore, Google is not required to pay punitive compensation. Regarding this decision, the lawyers of the users who filed the lawsuit said they were happy.

However, on the other hand, Google Spokesperson, Jose Castaneda, said that, "This decision misunderstood the workings of our products." Google also did not appear to accept the fines imposed and intended to appeal.

During the trial, Google stated that the data they collected was 'non-private, anonymous, and stored in separate locations'. They also confirmed that the data was not related to individual user accounts.

This case is part of a class action lawsuit filed in July 2020. The lawsuit claims that Google collects user data through third-party applications such as Uber and Instagram.

The app uses Google Analytics services. The lawsuit covers about 98 million Google users and 174 million devices. This case was legalized as a class action lawsuit by US District Judge Richard Seeborg.