Google has accepted a$391.5 million settlement with 40 state attorneys general about their location tracking practices. The agreement states that Google tricked its users into thinking they had turned off location tracking even though the company was still collecting their location information. The investigation, which marks the largest consumer privacy settlement led by an attorney general, was co-led by Oregon and Washington.
"During years, Google has prioritized profits over the privacy of its users”Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a Press release. “They have been cunning and deceitful. Consumers thought they had disabled their location tracking features on Google, but the company continued to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers.
Google said in a statement that it has already addressed and corrected some of the location tracking practices detailed in the agreement.
"Consistent with the improvements we've made in recent years, we've resolved this investigation that was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago," a spokesperson said. Google.
As part of the agreement, Google agreed to improve its location tracking disclosures and user controls starting next year. The agreement requires that Google display additional information to users each time they turn a location-related account setting on or off. Key location tracking information should not be hidden in the future either.
In a blog post, Google highlighted that it will “provide a new control that will allow users to easily turn off their Location History and Web & App Activity settings and delete their previous data in one flow”. The company also plans to add additional disclosures to its Activity controls y Data privacy.
Along with these changes, Google You are going to create a comprehensive information hub that highlights key location settings. In addition, Google plans to provide users who are setting up new accounts with a more detailed explanation of what Web & App Activity is and what information it includes. The company said it will continue to delete location history data for users who haven't recently contributed new location history data to their account.
“Until we have comprehensive privacy laws, companies will continue to collect vast amounts of our personal data for marketing purposes with few controls”Rosenblum said in the press release.
The attorneys general opened the investigation of Google after a Associated Press Report 2018 which discovered that the company was recording users' movements even when they were explicitly told not to. The investigation found that Google violated state consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about its location tracking practices since at least 2014.
Last month, Google agreed to pay the state of Arizona $85 million to settle a separate lawsuit alleging the search giant misled users by collecting location data without their consent. Google it is also currently facing a lawsuit from Washington, DC, Texas, Washington State, and Indiana. The lawsuit alleges that Google misled users by collecting their location data even when they thought location tracking was turned off.
