Google pays $93m to settle privacy case
Google misled users in multiple ways said California AG
Google is set to pay $93 million in a proposed agreement with the California Attorney General's office, aimed at resolving allegations that the company misled users regarding the use of their location data.
The company has also agreed to provide users with more comprehensive information regarding the enabling of location-related account settings and enhancing transparency about location tracking.
The settlement, as announced by the California Attorney General's office on Thursday, comes in the wake of an investigation by the California Department of Justice.
The investigation found that Google had gathered, retained and used location data without obtaining informed consent from users.
"Our investigation revealed that Google was telling its users one thing - that it would no longer track their location once they opted out - but doing the opposite and continuing to track its users' movements for its own commercial gain," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.
"That's unacceptable, and we're holding Google accountable with today's settlement."
In the complaint [pdf] filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, Bonta alleged that Google had misled users in multiple ways regarding how the company collected and used an individual's location data.
The complaint contends that Google provided users with false information by stating that their location data would not be stored when the "Location History" setting was disabled.
Nevertheless, as per the complaint, Google continued to collect and retain the location data of users through alternative means, despite the user having turned off the Location History setting.
Furthermore, the complaint alleges that Google deceived users regarding their ability to opt out of location-targeted advertisements.
Many users were unaware of or did not comprehend Google's Location History and Web & App Activity settings.
As a result, these users unwittingly activated those settings, enabling Google to monitor their exact location.
"In addition, Google misrepresented that when users disabled Ads Personalisation it would stop using the user's location to target advertisements to those users, when in fact it continued to do so," the complaint stated.
As part of the settlement, Google will be required to enhance its transparency regarding location tracking and inform users that their location data may be used for targeted advertisements.
The proposed order is subject to court approval.
"Consistent with improvements we've made in recent years, we have settled this matter, which was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago," a Google spokesperson said.
This is not the first time that Google has settled allegations related to the violation of location privacy.
In November last year, the company reached a similar settlement in a lawsuit filed by attorneys general from 40 states, who had levelled the same accusations about Google's deceptive location privacy practices. This settlement amounted to nearly $392 million.
Earlier this week, a landmark antitrust trial against Google commenced, with broad-ranging allegations from the US Department of Justice (DOJ). In its complaint, the DOJ contends that for years, Google deliberately stifled competition that posed a challenge to its dominant search engine.
The complaint asserts that the company invested billions in maintaining an unlawful monopoly, one that has had detrimental effects on every computer and mobile device user in the United States.
Google faces another legal suit initiated by 38 states and territories, focusing on concerns related to monopolistic practices in the advertising sector.
Additionally, just last week, Google reached a preliminary agreement with multiple US states to resolve an antitrust lawsuit related to its alleged activities within the Google Play Store. This lawsuit contended that the company had artificially inflated prices for paid applications and in-app purchases in the Android app marketplace.