Google agreed to settle the Android data‑harvesting class action for $135 million in Joseph Taylor v. Google, the case named for plaintiff Joseph Taylor.
The settlement website says around 100 million people have been affected, and the FAQ estimates eligible users could receive up to $100 each; the court has given preliminary approval to the payment and a final approval hearing is scheduled for June 23, 2026. People who fit the class criteria are automatically eligible to receive part of the settlement payment sometime after that hearing, but class members are not guaranteed to receive any money unless they select a preferred method of payment on the settlement website by June 23. Anyone who wants to retain the right to sue Google separately must opt out by May 29, 2026.
The google android data settlement claim says the class covers nearly any American who owned an Android device and used cellular data to connect to the internet from November 12, 2017 through May 2026, unless they are already involved in a similar California class action. The lawsuit, first filed in 2020 as Taylor v. Google LLC, alleges that Google updated the Android operating system beginning in 2017 to automatically collect cellular data via carriers with no way for users to opt out and that the data collection occurred even when users disabled location tracking or closed apps.
The settlement requires more than a payment. Google agreed to obtain more explicit consent from Android users when first using new phones, to include a toggle button to turn off certain types of data collection, and to disclose data collection more clearly. The plaintiffs' legal team says it will ask the court for 29.5% of the payout for legal fees and expenses plus another $750,000, figures that will reduce the money available to class members if the court approves the request.
That mix of concessions and denials is the core tension. Google has denied wrongdoing and the court has not decided whether the company violated any laws, yet the company is offering billions of lines of code and product prompts in exchange for this settlement and changes to its consent language. José Castañeda, quoted on behalf of Google, said: "We are pleased to resolve this case, which mischaracterized standard industry practices that keep Android safe. We're providing additional disclosures to give people more information about how our services work." At the same time, the settlement's live website makes clear that the practical effect for many Americans will be a set of deadlines: decide whether to opt out by May 29, and select a payment method by June 23 if they expect any payout.
For Joseph Taylor, the deal is the legal milestone he sought when he filed the case. For the roughly 100 million people the site says were affected, the next steps are administrative and immediate: visit the settlement website while it is live now, decide whether to remain in the class or opt out by May 29, and pick a payment method by June 23 to preserve any chance of receiving funds after the final approval hearing. The settlement forces Google to change some user prompts, but it also leaves open the question the court must answer on June 23 — whether the combination of payment, disclosures and toggles sufficiently redresses the harms the lawsuit alleged and whether the legal fees sought are reasonable in light of the relief to class members.
