Examine the spam folder. Many people’s part of $135 million is presently waiting there. With an unknown sender name, a class action notice in the subject line, and a code that looks like it might be a phishing effort, the email appears to be one of those promotional communications you nearly trash without reading. It’s not an attempt at phishing.
The deadline to reply is May 29, 2026, and it is a valid settlement notification in one of the biggest consumer data disputes to proceed through the federal courts in recent years. After that date, any money you may have received is disbursed without your desired payment method being recorded, and you are no longer able to take Google to court on your own for these particular allegations.
Important Information
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Case Name | Taylor et al. v. Google LLC (Case No. 5:20-CV-07957-VKD) |
| Official Settlement Website | FederalCellularClassAction.com |
| Court | U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division — Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi |
| Settlement Amount | $135 million — nonreversionary fund |
| Settlement Administrator | Angeion Group LLC — 1650 Arch St., Suite 2210, Philadelphia, PA 19103; phone 1-844-655-4255 |
| Eligible Users | U.S. residents who used an Android device to access the internet over a cellular network from November 12, 2017 to the date of final approval — excluding California residents in the Csupo v. Google case |
| Estimated Class Size | Approximately 100 million Android users |
| Estimated Payout | Up to $100 per person — pro rata after attorneys’ fees and admin costs; actual amount depends on participation |
| Claim Form Required? | No — payments are automatic; but completing the Payment Election Form at the official site is strongly recommended |
| How to Access | Use your Notice ID and Confirmation Code from your settlement notice to log in at FederalCellularClassAction.com |
| Payment Methods Available | Zelle, PayPal, Venmo, ACH bank transfer, Virtual Mastercard |
| Opt-Out / Objection Deadline | May 29, 2026 — mail required; after this date you cannot pursue a separate lawsuit against Google for these claims |
| Final Approval Hearing | June 23, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. — payments begin after approval and any appeals resolve |
Judge Virginia K. DeMarchi of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California was given the case, Taylor et al. v. Google LLC, in 2020. The plaintiffs, Joseph Taylor, Mick Cleary, and Jennifer Nelson, claimed that during times when devices were idle, apps were closed, and Wi-Fi connections were available but unused, Google’s Android operating system transmitted data back to Google’s servers over users’ cellular networks without meaningful consent.
The fundamental allegation of the action went beyond privacy in general. It had to do with money, namely the exploitation of users’ purchased mobile data by background processes that Google put up for its own ends and failed to properly disclose in its terms of service. California residents are not included in this federal settlement and are treated separately because a Santa Clara County jury had already rendered a similar decision in a related California state case in July 2025, giving more than $314 million to California customers.
Since the $135 million government fund is nonreversionary, Google does not get any remaining funds. This is significant because the number of eligible individuals who actually engage in nonreversionary settlements directly affects the payout per person. The official settlement website, FederalCellularClassAction.com, went live immediately after Google submitted the preliminary settlement for court approval on January 28, 2026. Under the court’s supervision, Angeion Group LLC, a Philadelphia-based company, is the settlement administrator and is in charge of all outreach, payment processing, and fund distribution.
Practically speaking, the procedures of this specific settlement differ slightly from those of a typical class action. There is no need for a claim form. In a way, the complaint was about Google already knowing who its Android customers are and which of them utilized cellular data during the eligible period. The settlement will automatically distribute rewards to those who qualify, using Google’s own data to identify class members.
However, the settlement administrator strongly advises class members to use the Notice ID and Confirmation Code included in their settlement notice to submit the Payment Election Form on the official website by May 29, 2026. Instead of waiting for the administrator to find your mailing address from older records and send a check that could or might not reach you, filling out the form gives you the option to select how you receive your payment—Zelle, PayPal, Venmo, ACH bank transfer, or a virtual Mastercard.
If you got an email with a settlement notice, it probably came from the settlement administrator’s domain and might have wound up in promotions or spam. The administrator can be contacted directly at info@federalcellularclassaction.com or by phone at 1-844-655-4255 if you are unable to find it. Eligibility-related questions are covered in depth in the website’s FAQ section. Android users who are already involved in the California state court case Csupo v. Google LLC are the only group that is categorically ineligible; they have a different route to compensation through the Santa Clara County court.
The precise per-person share of the payout is still up in the air because it depends on how many of the estimated 100 million eligible users participate and how much of the fund is left over after attorneys’ fees (plaintiffs’ counsel has stated it may request up to $39.8 million) and administrative costs are subtracted. The $100 per person cap that has been advertised is a ceiling, not a guarantee. For the majority of claimants, the reality amount will be less. This fact does not negate the significance of the settlement. Even a tiny sum given to 100 million people is a substantial total transfer of funds from a business that used their paid data resources without their express agreement.
The final approval hearing is set at 10:00 a.m. on June 23, 2026. The fairness, reasonableness, and sufficiency of the settlement will be evaluated by the court. Payments will start to be made after that date if they are accepted and there are no appeals delaying distribution. The length of time it will take for individual payments to arrive in digital wallets after the approval hearing is still unknown; settlement administrators usually work in waves, and the process might take weeks. However, the fund has been established, the framework is in place, and the counting deadline is quickly approaching.
