That’s a rounding error for them.
Google hit with $314m fine for collecting data from idle Android phones without permission
Submitted 5 days ago by RandAlThor@lemmy.ca to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.androidauthority.com/google-314-million-verdict-misuse-android-user-data-3573164/
Comments
CatsGoMOW@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Townlately@feddit.nl 5 days ago
A pi in the face
voodooattack@lemmy.world 5 days ago
So small it’s almost imaginary
rottingleaf@lemmy.world 5 days 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.
misterdoctor@lemmy.world 5 days ago
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.”
Tuuktuuk@sopuli.xyz 5 days 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.
Lifter@discuss.tchncs.de 5 days ago
Except capital income can be hidden in other countries, still giving an unfair advantage to the super rich.
VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world 5 days ago
That’s actually shopped. The game’s writer said he wishes he wrote that line, though.
modifier@lemmy.ca 5 days 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.
A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 5 days 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.
Kekzkrieger@feddit.org 5 days ago
If you earn like 100k a year its like being slapped with a 300 $ fine just to put it into perspective.
glorptex@lemmy.world 5 days 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.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 5 days 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.
paraphrand@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Don’t we ban Chinese phones for the same actions?
HugeNerd@lemmy.ca 5 days ago
China bad.
MisterFrog@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
I think the original commenter means that Google got off with a tap on the wrist
phoenixz@lemmy.ca 5 days ago
So of the billions they made with that they have to pay a small fee.
Oh noes
nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org 5 days ago
Jail them!
In prison gen pop. Make execs afraid to break the law for profit and/or fund reform for the prison system.
jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 5 days 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
Gowron_Howard@lemmy.world 5 days ago
A fine is the cost of doing business. Unless something changes they’ll keep doing it.
RagingRobot@lemmy.world 5 days ago
It’s just the government’s cut since they don’t pay much in taxes.
Doom@ttrpg.network 5 days ago
And it isn’t like the victims see any of it
ramenshaman@lemmy.world 5 days ago
laughs in GrapheneOS
answersplease77@lemmy.world 5 days ago
cries in cheap phone that doesn’t flash GrapheneOS
treadful@lemmy.zip 5 days 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.
poopkins@lemmy.world 5 days 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.”
trashboat@midwest.social 5 days 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?
gex@lemmy.world 5 days ago
I think that’s just part of the label of a link to Google’s stock ticker
TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Break the law and pay 0.014% of your market cap, or 0.31% of their 2024 profit.
Evil_Shrubbery@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
(Also not change anything besides maybe make a terms upade.)
The horror!!
lukaro@lemmy.zip 5 days ago
I don’t chase dropped pennies, and I don’t think google does either!
thatradomguy@lemmy.world 5 days ago
So when are we all finally going to ditch Google/Apple and move on to actual FOSS phones like Librem5 or Fairphone?
cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 5 days 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.
HiddenLychee@lemmy.world 5 days 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.
MolecularCactus1324@lemmy.world 5 days 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
FelixCress@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Which one allows me to actually control my phone and reject all the updates?
lauha@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Fairphone is FOSS??
NGnius@lemmy.ca 5 days 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
redditor_chatter44@sh.itjust.works 5 days ago
Oh noes
They’re shivering in their boots
DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Google in 2024: Net profit: $100 billion
The government: “here is a tiny fine that you can’t even see in a microscope.”
xorollo@leminal.space 5 days ago
That does nothing to help anyone hurt by the actions.
DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world 5 days ago
Hey, they’re gonna get their $2.97 checks. That’s a gallon of gas somewhere.
Cethin@lemmy.zip 5 days 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.
DonutsRMeh@lemmy.world 5 days 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.