In what is the largest multi-state privacy settlement by state authorities in US history, search engine giant Google reached a settlement with 40 states under which it would pay $391.5 million over accusations that it misled users into believing location tracking had been switched off on their devices.
It also included a binding commitment for improved disclosures by the company.
The case started after an Associated Press article in 2018 reported that Google tracked users even when they had opted out of the practice.
Coming at a time when there is growing unease among consumers and regulators over privacy issues, the attorneys general called the settlement a historic win for consumers.
“This $391.5 million settlement is a historic win for consumers in an era of increasing reliance on technology,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement. “Location data is among the most sensitive and valuable personal information Google collects, and there are so many reasons why a consumer may opt-out of tracking.”
“Digital platforms like Google cannot claim to provide privacy controls to users then turn around and disregard those controls to collect and sell data to advertisers against users’ express wishes — and at great profit,” said New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
In a statement, the company said that the allegations were based on product features that were no longer up to date.
“Consistent with improvements we’ve made in recent years, we have settled this investigation which was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago,” company spokesperson Jose Castaneda said.
Location tracking helps tech companies sell targeted ads to marketers, and has helped Google generate more than $200 billion in annual ad revenue.
The AP story reported that the privacy issue with location tracking affected some 2 billion users of devices that run Google’s Android operating software and hundreds of millions of worldwide iPhone users who rely on Google for maps or search.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed the first state action against Google in May 2020, and reached an $85 million settlement last month. By then attorneys general in several other states had also filed lawsuits against the company.
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