Google hit with $314m fine for collecting data from idle Android phones without permission

Comments

• Gowron_Howard@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  A fine is the cost of doing business. Unless something changes they’ll keep doing it.

  source

  • RagingRobot@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    It’s just the government’s cut since they don’t pay much in taxes.

    source

    • Doom@ttrpg.network ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      And it isn’t like the victims see any of it

      source
• poopkins@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  The linked Reuters article provides a bit more context:

  The jury agreed with the plaintiffs that Alphabet’s Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab was liable for sending and receiving information from the devices without permission while they were idle, causing what the lawsuit had called “mandatory and unavoidable burdens shouldered by Android device users for Google’s benefit.”

  […]

  Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said in a statement that the company would appeal, and that the verdict “misunderstands services that are critical to the security, performance, and reliability of Android devices.”

  source

  • trashboat@midwest.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    opens new tab the verdict “misunderstands services that are critical to the security, performance, and reliability of Android devices.”

    Ummmm maybe I’m misunderstanding but how on earth is opening a new tab critical to security and performance?

    source

    • gex@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I think that’s just part of the label of a link to Google’s stock ticker

      source

      • -> View More Comments
• ramenshaman@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  laughs in GrapheneOS

  source

  • answersplease77@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    cries in cheap phone that doesn’t flash GrapheneOS

    source
• paraphrand@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Don’t we ban Chinese phones for the same actions?

  source

  • HugeNerd@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    China bad.

    source

    • MisterFrog@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I think the original commenter means that Google got off with a tap on the wrist

      source
• lukaro@lemmy.zip ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  I don’t chase dropped pennies, and I don’t think google does either!

  source
• modifier@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Years ago, when this policy was first being contemplated, someone at google plugged a number, likely larger than this, into a spreadsheet analyzing the cost/benefit of spying on their customers.

  This is just post-activation operating expense from their perspective.

  source

  • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Google made 100 billion last year.

    300 million is barely a blip.

    The fine should have been 30 billion.

    if the fines arent big enough to seriously hurt a company, Then the fines are not big enough to change their behavior.

    They just become a tax on evil.

    source

    • Squizzy@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Base it not off the entire company, base it off the value of doing this. They didnt make 100 billion off unapproved android user data collection.

      This argument is common and while fines should be higher, the idea that they dont matter unless they are 10% of earnings is ridiculous.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • Kekzkrieger@feddit.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      If you earn like 100k a year its like being slapped with a 300 $ fine just to put it into perspective.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
    • glorptex@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      They should definitely be higher than what they are, even the GDPR fines are a joke, its likely added to a line “legal expenses” in their expenses.

      While it looks like the EU fines are ramping up over time, it still just feels silly right now. But I guess that is intentional.

      source
• thatradomguy@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  So when are we all finally going to ditch Google/Apple and move on to actual FOSS phones like Librem5 or Fairphone?

  source

  • FelixCress@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Which one allows me to actually control my phone and reject all the updates?

    source
  • MolecularCactus1324@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    When Librem stops sucking ass and Fairphone stops being just as bad as any other Android phone in terms of integrating Google services and allowing data collection

    source
  • lauha@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Fairphone is FOSS??

    source

    • NGnius@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      They submitted kernel patches for (at least some) support of the FP6 the day it released. The preinstalled OS isn’t FOSS though a good few FOSS OSs/distros support their older phones (and presumably the FP6 eventually).

      So the answer is… sort of? Personally I just think they’re just FOSS-friendly

      source
  • cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    When they are good.

    Another problem I have is multifactor apps. Can I get duo on a Linux phone? Or banking apps? Some software sends notifications to the phone to log in on a computer, for example.

    I’m sure I could get around it, but ultimately I just want a good camera.

    source

    • HiddenLychee@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Yeah, I need to know that Microsoft authenticator, duo mobile, all banking and trading apps, Venmo, and steam guard work on Linux. I know a lot of banking apps do, but if duo mobile doesn’t, I’m locked out of my work.

      source
• misterdoctor@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Image

  Alt text: a screenshot from final fantasy tactics with a character saying: “If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class.”

  source

  • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That’s actually shopped. The game’s writer said he wishes he wrote that line, though.

    source
  • Tuuktuuk@sopuli.xyz ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Assuming the fine isn’t progressive, of course.

    Over here in Finland fines for any but the minor offences are defined in percents of income, not in fixed sums of money. There have been cases of traffic fines of several hundreds of thousands for going 30 km/h over the speed limit. That makes them a punishment for very richest people as well, not only for the lower class.

    source

    • Lifter@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Except capital income can be hidden in other countries, still giving an unfair advantage to the super rich.

      source
• TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Break the law and pay 0.014% of your market cap, or 0.31% of their 2024 profit.

  source

  • Evil_Shrubbery@lemmy.zip ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    (Also not change anything besides maybe make a terms upade.)

    The horror!!

    source

    • atrielienz@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      They’ll likely appeal.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
• redditor_chatter44@sh.itjust.works ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Oh noes

  They’re shivering in their boots

  source
• phoenixz@lemmy.ca ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  So of the billions they made with that they have to pay a small fee.

  Oh noes

  source

  • nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Jail them!

    In prison gen pop. Make execs afraid to break the law for profit and/or fund reform for the prison system.

    source
  • jjjalljs@ttrpg.network ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    Fine needs to be much bigger. All the decision makers that approved it need to be removed and barred from working in the industry

    source
• treadful@lemmy.zip ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Doesn’t sound like the suit was about the collection at all and just about the Yakuts transmission costing users mobile data usage.

  Vague articles are vague.

  source
• DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Google in 2024: Net profit: $100 billion

  The government: “here is a tiny fine that you can’t even see in a microscope.”

  source

  • Cethin@lemmy.zip ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    I agree, but one thing that people always miss with these kinds of rulings is that they generally come with increased oversight and greater fines for repeat offenses. They’re more likely to be caught if they try it again, and it’ll grow until it actually hurts.

    Still, this should be a lot larger. They should be trying to dissuade first-time offenses as well, not letting them take advantage of the system for profit because it won’t hurt much when they’re found out.

    source

    • DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I theory, yes, but governments won’t do that. They worry that corporations would leave their states and they lose on employment and tax revenue. That’s why they fine them very carefully to begin with.

      source

      • -> View More Comments
  • xorollo@leminal.space ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    [deleted]

    source

    • DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Hey, they’re gonna get their $2.97 checks. That’s a gallon of gas somewhere.

      source
• CatsGoMOW@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  That’s a rounding error for them.

  source

  • rottingleaf@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    That’s 1/85 of the watch that Ramzan Kadyrov’s son sported on his wedding.

    Or one can just compare it to the share of Google’s profits in California.

    source
  • Townlately@feddit.nl ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    A pi in the face

    source

    • voodooattack@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      So small it’s almost imaginary

      source