Internet giant Google has agreed to pay a record $391.5 million to settle with 40 US states over charges that the company misled users about collecting personal location data.
“Google misled its users into thinking they had turned off location tracking in their account settings, when, in fact, Google continued to collect their location information,” Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said Monday.
“For years, Google has prioritized profit over the privacy of its users. They have been cunning and deceitful,” Rosenblum said.
The investigation was sparked by a 2018 Associated Press report that revealed Google continued to track users’ locations on Android and iOS even when they turned off “location history” in their account settings, undermining privacy controls. . . . . .
Rosenblum said that the location data Google collects is combined with other personal and behavioral information it collects to develop detailed user profiles for ad targeting purposes, aggregating even a limited amount of location data can expose the “identity and routines” of a person and that can be used to infer personal data.
As part of the privacy agreement, Google must display additional information to users when enabling or disabling a location-related setting, avoid hiding key location tracking information, and provide details about the types of location data collected.
Google, in a related announcement, touted the company’s automatic removal options and settings, such as incognito mode in Google Maps and transparency tools that allow users to access “key location settings directly from our core products.” . . . . . She also characterized the investigation as based on “outdated product policies.”
The search giant further said it will roll out more corrective changes in the coming months to include a streamlined account setup process that will offer a detailed explanation of users’ web and app activities, as well as provide streamlined settings for deleting data. . . . . of location
It also described that it will make available a “single, comprehensive information hub that highlights key location settings to help people make informed decisions about their data.”
The development comes three months after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) fined Google AU$60 million for “misleading representations to consumers about the collection and use of their personal location data on Android phones.” . . . . between January 2017 and December 2018″.
Last month, the company agreed to pay the US state of Arizona $85 million to settle a separate lawsuit alleging the search giant illegally tracked users by recording location data without their consent. Google is facing similar location tracking lawsuits in Washington, D.C., Indiana, Texas and Washington.
For the third quarter ending September 30, 2022, Google reported total revenue of $69.09 billion and net income of $13.9 billion. Total advertising revenue was $54.48 billion for the three-month period.
“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.