Tech fines tracker
Big Tech, small consequences
Fines are big - and growing
In 2024, Alphabet, Google's parent company, was fined nearly $2.9 billion dollars. This is an astronomical amount that's almost impossible to imagine.
But Big Tech is bigger
Yet as big as this amount is, it will barely affect Google. Alphabet, Google's parent company, had a free cash flow of $47.9 billion for the first three quarters of 2024, meaning it made enough money to pay its $2.5 billion fine (the largest fine any company received last year) in just over two weeks.
Free cash flow (FCF) is a measure Alphabet defines as "amount of cash generated by the business that can be used for strategic opportunities, including investing in our business and acquisitions, and to strengthen our balance sheet."
The other Big Tech companies' free cash flows similarly make their fines little more than a speeding ticket.
How long did it take Big Tech to pay off all their fines?
In 2024, Google could pay its nearly $3 billion in fines with the free cash flow it generated in less than three weeks. If we want Big Tech to prioritize our privacy, the fines must increase or regulatory bodies must force them to change their practices.
Key indicators |  undefined |  undefined |  undefined |  undefined |  undefined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2024 free cash flow | $108.81 billion | $47.93 billion | $74.07 billion | $40.51 billion | $15.08 billion |
Total fines 2024 | $2,117,203,000 | $2,974,752,000 | $1,605,000,000 | $1,462,850,000 | $57,478,000 |
Time to pay off its fines (using free cash flow) | 7 days, 2 hours, 28 minutes | 16 days, 21 hours, 25 minutes | 7 days, 21 hours, 49 minutes | 9 days, 19 hours, 15 minutes | 1 day, 0 hours, 51 minutes |
See all Big Tech fines for 2024
We have collated all the fines Big Tech have received in 2024. We will be updating it with historic data, as well as with the latest fines as they are issued.
$13,650,000
January 2024
Russia - for abusing its dominant position concerning in-app payment(new window).
Time to pay off : 1 hour, 6 minutes
$2bn
March 2024
EU - for breaking streaming rules(new window).
Time to pay off : 6 days, 17 hours, 2 minutes
$153,000
$14,400,000
October 2024
South Korea - for in-app payment breaches(new window)
PENDING original complaint(new window)
Time to pay off: 1 hour, 10 minutes
$89,000,000
October 2024
USA - for mishandling consumer disputes of Apple Card(new window) transactions (joint fine with Goldman Sachs)
Time to pay off: 7 hours, 10 minutes
$263,100,000
March 2024
France - for breaching intellectual property(new window) deal
Time to pay off: 1 day, 11 hours, 51 minutes
$51,700,000
June 2024
South Korea - for using pre-selected consent options(new window) in its account sign-up process, which the commission claims misled users into agreeing to data collection for targeted advertising
Time to pay off: 7 hours, 3 minutes
$14,850,000
June 2024
Turkey - for not meeting obligations related to hotel searches(new window)
Time to pay off: 2 hours, 1 minute
$2.53bn
October 2024
EU - for unfair promotion of Google shopping results(new window) in Google search (fine upheld on appeal)
Time to pay off: 14 days, 8 hours, 48 minutes
$40,100,000
October 2024
South Korea - for in-app payment breaches(new window) pending original complaint(new window)
Time to pay off: 5 hours, 28 minutes
$75,000,000
December 2024
Turkey - for violating competition laws(new window)
Time to pay off: 10 hours, 13 minutes
$3,680,000
June 2024
Italy - for failing to provide clear information to new Instagram users(new window) about data use and not adequately notifying or assisting existing Instagram and Facebook users regarding account suspensions
Time to pay off: 36 minutes
$220,000,000
July 2024
Nigeria - for abusive practices against Nigerian data subjects(new window), including unauthorized data appropriation, discriminatory practices, and abuse of dominant market position
Time to pay off: 1 day, 11 hours, 28 minutes
$95,770,000
September 2024
EU - for inadvertently storing certain passwords of social media users in plaintext (new window)on its internal systems
Time to pay off: 15 hours, 26 minutes
$839,830,000
November 2024
EU - for harming competition (new window)by tying its online classified ads service Facebook Marketplace with its personal social network Facebook
Time to pay off: 5 days, 15 hours, 22 minutes
$15,670,000
November 2024
South Korea - for collecting sensitive user data and giving it to advertisers(new window) without a legal basis
Time to pay off: 2 hours, 32 minutes
$24,900,000
November 2024
India - for abusing its dominant position in messaging and advertising(new window) by requiring users to share data for use across its platforms.
Time to pay off: 4 hours, 1 minute
$263,000,000
December 2024
Ireland - for a 2018 data breach(new window) that affected 29 million Facebook users
Time to pay off: 1 day, 18 hours, 14 minutes
$33,500,000
January 2024
France - for GDPR breaches concerning(new window) employee monitoring
Time to pay off: 14 hours, 29 minutes
$10,520,000
$7,500,000
April 2024
Poland - for misleading consumer practices(new window)
Time to pay off: 3 hours, 15 minutes
$5,900,000
$58,000
November 2024
Turkey - for a data breach relating to Twitch(new window)
Time to pay off: 1 minute, 30 seconds
$335,000,000
October 2024
Ireland - for GDPR privacy violations(new window) relating to tracking for ads on LinkedIn
Time to pay off: 1 day, 15 hours, 37 minutes
$1.27bn
December 2024
UK - for breaching competition laws for overcharging businesses(new window) that used cloud services from competitors (pending)
Time to pay off: 6 days, 6 hours, 12 minutes
See all Big Tech fines for 2023
We have collated all the fines Big Tech have received in 2023.
$160,000,000
March 2023
India - for Android's illegal market dominance(new window) (ruling upholding fine)
$2,000,000
$700,000,000
December 2023
All 50 states in USA - for abusing its power in the Google Play Store(new window) (settlement)
$30,000,000
$25,000,000
$20,000,000
See all Big Tech fines for 2022
We have collated all the fines Big Tech have received in 2022.
$156,000,000
January 2022
France - for making it difficult for users to refuse cookies(new window)
$40,000,000
August 2022
Australia - for misleading users about location data collection(new window)
$25bn (potentially)
September 2022
UK & EU - for abusing monopoly power in advertising(new window)
$50,000,000
September 2022
South Korea - for failing to obtain users' consent before collecting data(new window)
$162,000,000
$113,000,000
October 2022
India - for refusing to allow third-party payment services(new window)
$391,500,000
November 2022
40 states in the USA - for tracking users location even after they opted out(new window)
$4.125bn
November 2022
France - for illegally bundling services on Android(new window) (fine reduced on appeal from $4.34 billion)
$400,000,000
September 2022
Ireland - for Instagram breaking EU data privacy laws concerning children's data(new window)
$22,000,000
September 2022
South Korea - for failing to obtain users' consent before collecting data(new window)
$35,000,000
October 2022
Washington, USA - for intentionally and repeatedly violating Washington campaign finance laws(new window)
$52,000,000
March 2022
The Netherlands - for refusing to support third-party payment systems(new window)
$386,000,000
$19,000,000
October 2022
Turkey - for creating barriers to entry(new window) into the online advertising market
The above tables are not an exhaustive list of all the fines these companies received in the listed calendar years. We included all the substantial fines we could find in major news sources, but there might be others. These tables focus on fines and settlements with governments and regulatory bodies and exclude class action lawsuits, tax disputes, and censorship fines from Russia over removing news about Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Also, due to the fluctuation of foreign exchange rates, the dollar amounts might have shifted since these tables were published.
If you have questions or think there's a fine we should add, write to us at media@proton.me.
Read more about Big Tech fines
BLOG
Big Tech earns enough in less than 3 weeks to pay all 2024 fines
In 2024, governments worldwide fined some of the world’s largest tech companies — Apple, Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft — a combined $8.2 billion. At first glance, it might seem like authorities are finally holding Big Tech companies accountable. But a closer look reveals the stark reality.
BLOG
Big Tech has already made enough money in 2024 to pay all its 2023 fines
Last year, Big Tech companies (Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft) received about $3.04 billion in fines for breaking laws on both sides of the Atlantic. As of seven days and three hours into 2024, they had already earned enough revenue to pay it all off.
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Google’s $391 million settlement pushes Big Tech fines over $3 billion in 2022
In 2022, Google agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by 40 US states for $391.5 million. Law enforcement officials in those states said the company had secretly tracked the locations of Android users who thought their location tracking was turned off.