EU Court Adviser Juliane Kokott Backs 2018 $4.7B Android Antitrust Fine; California Jury Orders $314M for Illegal Data Collection

Alphabet's Google has faced two major legal setbacks related to its Android operating system. In Europe, an adviser to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) recommended upholding a record €4.125 billion ($4.7 billion) antitrust fine imposed on Google in 2018. The fine was levied for abusing its dominant market position by imposing restrictive conditions on Android device manufacturers and mobile operators to preserve dominance in search. The adviser, Advocate General Juliane Kokott, stated that regulators were justified in penalizing Google for these anti-competitive practices.

This recommendation is non-binding but often followed by the court, putting Google at risk of losing its appeal against the fine. The case represents the largest antitrust penalty ever imposed by the EU. Separately, in the United States, a California jury ordered Google to pay more than $314.6 million for illegally collecting cellular data from Android smartphone users without their consent. The class-action lawsuit found that Google misused customers' mobile data by transferring information from their devices while idle, without user knowledge or permission. This verdict marks another legal challenge for Google over privacy and data use issues related to its Android platform.