Google Location Tracking Settlement: Why There Is No Consumer Payout

Who qualifies

• No consumer eligibility exists for any of these settlements. The class action pays $0 to class members by design, and the state settlements are government enforcement actions that pay the state treasury.
• The class action did cover a real group — U.S. Google account holders whose location was collected while Location History was turned off — but membership in that class entitles you to no money, only to the injunctive changes Google agreed to make.
• The $391.5 million multistate settlement was brought by 40 state attorneys general on behalf of residents. Attorneys general recover money for the state, not as per-person restitution, so residents of those 40 states receive nothing individually.
• Arizona's $85 million was allocated $77.25 million to the state general fund and $7.75 million to outside counsel. Arizona residents received no direct payment.
• If a site asks you to enter personal information to claim a Google location payout, it is not an official settlement. No approved fund pays individuals.

Google location settlement status — what to know

1. 1

   There is no claim to file

   No Google location tracking case has ever created a consumer claim form, a fund for individuals, or a deadline. The class action was approved on the express basis that class members receive nothing, and the state cases pay governments. There is nothing to sign up for.

2. 2

   What a "cy pres" settlement means for you

   In the $62 million class action, the fund was distributed to 17 court-appointed nonprofits, universities, and privacy researchers instead of to class members. Courts allow this when dividing a fund among a very large class would produce shares too small to mail. Objectors argued the money should go to users; Judge Davila overruled them and approved the deal on May 3, 2024.

3. 3

   The state money went to state budgets

   The $391.5 million multistate settlement, Arizona's $85 million, and Texas's $1.375 billion were all attorney general enforcement actions. That money funds state governments and, in Arizona's case, was directed largely to the general fund. State residents do not receive checks from these settlements.

4. 4

   What you did get: the settings actually changed

   The multistate settlement required Google to make its location disclosures unavoidable rather than buried, to show contextual information whenever a user makes a location choice, and to maintain a page detailing what location data it collects. Those changes began rolling out in 2023 and apply to every Google account.

5. 5

   Turn the tracking off properly

   The core problem was that turning off "Location History" alone did not stop collection. To limit it, review both Location History and Web & App Activity in your Google account's Activity Controls, and check the Timeline settings on your phone. Switching off only the first still leaves the second collecting location data.

6. 6

   Some privacy settlements do pay — those are worth catching

   Not every privacy case ends this way. Google's $135 million Android cellular-data settlement and its $100 million Illinois biometric settlement both sent real money to real people. ClaimBee tracks which settlements actually pay individuals, so you spend your time only on the ones with a check attached.

Frequently asked questions