Entertainment
Google ordered to pay $425m in privacy case
A federal jury decided on Wednesday that Alphabet’s Google must pay $425 million for invading users’ privacy by continuing to collect data for millions of users who had switched off a tracking feature in their Google account.
The verdict followed a trial in the federal court in San Francisco over allegations that, for more than eight years, Google accessed users’ mobile devices to collect, save, and use their data, breaking privacy assurances under its Web & App Activity setting.
The users had been seeking more than $31 billion in damages.
The jury found Google liable on two of the three claims of privacy violations raised by the plaintiffs. However, it decided that Google had not acted with malice, meaning the company was not liable for any punitive damages.
A spokesperson for Google confirmed the verdict. Google had denied any wrongdoing.
The class action lawsuit, filed in July 2020, alleged that Google continued collecting users’ data even when the setting was turned off, through its connections with apps such as Uber, Venmo, and Meta’s Instagram, which rely on Google’s analytics services.
At trial, Google argued that the data collected was “nonpersonal, pseudonymous, and stored in segregated, secured, and encrypted locations.” The company said the data was not tied to users’ Google accounts or any individual identity.
US District Judge Richard Seeborg certified the case as a class action, covering about 98 million Google users and 174 million devices.
Google has faced other privacy lawsuits, including one earlier this year where it paid nearly $1.4 billion in a settlement with Texas over claims that the company violated the state’s privacy laws.
In April 2024, Google also agreed to destroy billions of data records of users’ private browsing activities to settle another lawsuit, which alleged it tracked people who believed they were browsing privately, including in “Incognito” mode.
Jennifer Aniston, famously known for her role of Rachel Green in Friends, has opened up taking out time for herself.
Speaking with People Magazine, Aniston shared that she’s learning to balance her work schedule with personal time.
Aniston told the outlet, “This is another thing that I’ve gotten really good at in the last couple of years, is carving out time.”
“Just saying to the team, ‘The month of blanky blank is off.’ We’re not going to do anything for whatever happens to be the month that would work that year,” The Morning Show star added.
She went on to reveal that she tells her team, “‘I’m going to take off. I’m going to have a vacation. There’s going to be no work.’ And you just kind of have to put it on your calendar.”
Aniston added, “I think it’s so important because, if we’re running on fumes because we are working too hard and not giving ourselves the opportunity to refuel our bodies mentally and physically, we’re useless.”
“We’re cranky, we’re fatigued, we’re under-slept. I think that the importance of that [rest] and recharge is imperative,” she noted.
Jennifer Aniston broke on screen as Rachel Green on Friends more than 30 years ago, and ever since the actress’ career has soared.
Nick Jonas is shedding light on the darker side of fame.
In a new episode of Esquire’s What I’ve Learned video series, the Jonas Brothers sat down with editor-in-chief Michael Sebastian for an unfiltered chat about fame, family, and lessons learned along the way.
When asked if things ever felt “weird” during their rise, Nick admitted it was difficult to deal with the public scrutiny over their personal lives as teenagers.
“We were so young,” he began.
“And some of the things people were talking about,” the father of one continued stating, “I’m thankful to say we’ve come such a long way in 15 to 16 years where it would be completely inappropriate to speak about a 13 or 14-year-old’s dating life or s** life.”
Reflecting further, Nick, who is now married to global star Priyanka Chopra, explained that fame came with a kind of emotional price tag.
“It was something that was really synonymous with our name and our image for a while, whether we wanted it or not,” he said.
“When you’re part of public life, it’s part of what I like to call the ‘tax’ you have to pay,” he addressed.
Before conclusion, Nick expressed, “I’m grateful that, for the most part, we’re pretty well-adjusted. We all are—considering some of the things we had to navigate.”
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