Sou Hu Cai Jing·2026-01-29 15:43Core Points - Google will pay $135 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit filed by smartphone users who accused the company of collecting mobile cellular data without user consent through its Android operating system [1][3] - The preliminary settlement agreement with Google's parent company, Alphabet, has been submitted to the federal court in San Jose, California, and is pending judicial approval [3] - The lawsuit claims that Google continued to collect users' cellular data even when users disabled Google apps, turned off location sharing, or locked their phones [3] Settlement Details - The settlement covers all users of Android devices from November 12, 2017, onwards [3] - Google does not admit to any wrongdoing in the settlement agreement [3] - As part of the settlement, Google must obtain explicit user consent for data transmission during the initial setup of Android devices and simplify the process for users to opt-out of data transmission [3] Compensation and Legal Fees - The $135 million compensation is considered the highest amount ever awarded in a case of illegal appropriation of property, with each member of the class-action lawsuit eligible for a maximum payout of $100 [3] - The plaintiff's attorney team may request up to $39.8 million in legal fees, which represents 29.5% of the total settlement fund [4]