Google agreed to pay $8.25 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the tech giant of illegally collecting data from children under 13.

Parents filed the lawsuit in June 2023, claiming Google violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act along with California and Florida state laws. The settlement class could include between 3.8 million and 19.8 million children.

How Google Allegedly Tracked Children

The lawsuit centered on apps marketed as family-friendly through Google’s “Designed for Families” program on the Android Play Store.

Games like Fun Kid Racing and GummyBear and Friends Speed Racing were among those named in the complaint. After searching for both of these on the Google Play Store they are now nowhere to be found.

According to court documents, Google’s AdMob software collected personal data from children without parental consent. The data allegedly collected includes:

• Precise geolocation within 5 meters
• Persistent device identifiers
• Advertising IDs used for tracking
• Activity and behavior data across Android apps

Google allegedly used this information to build profiles and serve targeted ads to minors. Even after banning the problematic apps from the Play Store, AdMob continued collecting data from children’s devices through 2021.

The families filing the lawsuit alleged that Google knew this was going on:

“Google and AdMob knew at the time that their actions were resulting in the exfiltration data from millions of children under thirteen but engaged in this illicit conduct to earn billions of dollars in advertising revenue.”

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Settlement Terms

The case reached a proposed settlement this month in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Plaintiffs’ attorneys plan to seek up to $2.475 million in legal fees plus expenses capped at $70,905.

This settlement arrived the same day a federal judge approved a separate $30 million deal involving YouTube. That case alleged Google’s video platform illegally collected data from child viewers for targeted advertising since 2019.

Advice for Protecting Children’s Data Online

Here are some simple steps that can be taken to help prevent children’s data from being harvested online:

• Review app permissions on your child’s Android device regularly.
• Remove apps that request unnecessary access to location or personal data.
• Enable parental controls through Google Family Link to restrict app downloads and monitor activity.
• Check if your child qualifies for the settlement class by watching for official notice from the court.

Final Thoughts

This Google settlement highlights ongoing concerns about how tech companies handle children’s data. Parents should stay vigilant about which apps their kids use and what permissions those apps require.

For more details on this story, refer to the official legal complaint (PDF) and the report from The Record.

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