Meta, Google can’t pull plug on class action over Android pixel trackers – California
Meta, Google can’t pull plug on class action over Android pixel trackers – California
Publish Date: 2026-05-21 16:38:00
Source Domain: blackchronicle.com
Tech giants Meta and Google won’t be able to quickly delete a class action lawsuit brought by Android phone users, accusing Meta of allegedly engineering a backdoor that allowed its tracking pixel to circumvent protections against tracking users’ online actions, and accusing Google of allegedly not doing enough to stop Meta from doing it.
On May 11, U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin rejected most of the two companies’ motions to dismiss the class action lawsuit on behalf of potentially tens of millions of Android smartphone users, accusing the companies of invasion of privacy and other violations of federal and California state laws.
In the ruling, Lin said she believed the evidence presented thus far in the case showed plaintiffs had established a credible claim that Meta had intentionally redesigned its tracking pixel to sidestep industry standards and allow the parent company of Facebook and Instagram to harvest information about their users to target them with advertisements.
And while acknowledging Google was seemingly “dismayed” after learning of Meta’s alleged actions, the judge said plaintiffs had done enough to this point to back their contention Google could have done more to design Android’s operating system and Google’s ubiquitous Chrome web browser to prevent the alleged surreptitious tracking.
Lawsuits against the companies have been pending in Northern California federal court since 2025. Cases have been combined into one consolidated action.
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Plaintiffs are represented in the case by attorneys with the firms of Bursor & Fisher, of White Plains, New York; Milberg PLLC, of Miami; Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, of San Francisco; and Ahdoot & Wolfson, of Burbank, among others.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of named plaintiffs, including Devin Rose, of Los Angeles; Yolanda Cunningham, of Solano County; Bert Velilla, of Cook County, Illinois; and John Ginder, of Santa Barbara.
However, the plaintiffs seek to…
