40 states settle Google location-tracking charges for $392M

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Mon Nov 14, 2022, 04:36 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: AP

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Search giant Google has agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states to resolve an investigation into how the company tracked users’ locations, state attorneys general announced Monday.

The states’ investigation was sparked by a 2018 Associated Press story, which found that Google continued to track people’s location data even after they opted out of such tracking by disabling a feature the company called “location history.” The attorneys general called the settlement a historic win for consumers, and the largest multistate settlement in U.S history dealing with privacy.

It comes at a time of mounting unease over privacy and surveillance by tech companies that has drawn growing outrage from politicians and scrutiny by regulators. The Supreme Court’s ruling in June ending the constitutional protections for abortion raised potential privacy concerns for women seeking the procedure or related information online.

“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.”

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/google-privacy-settlement-location-data-57da4f0d3ae5d69b14f4b284dd084cca

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Article updated.

Original article -

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Google has agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states in connection with an investigation into how the company tracked users’ locations, state attorneys general announced Monday, calling it the largest multistate privacy settlement in U.S history. The investigation by the states, which officials said was spurred by a 2018 Associated Press story, found that Google continued to track people’s location data even after they opted out of such tracking.

“This $391.5 million settlement is a historic win for consumers in an era of increasing reliance on technology. 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,” Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement.

The AP reported that many Google services on Android devices and iPhones store your location data even if you’ve used a privacy setting that says it will prevent Google from doing so. Computer-science researchers at Princeton confirmed these findings at the AP’s request. Storing such data carries privacy risks and has been used by police to determine the location of suspects.

The AP reported in 2018 that the privacy issue with location tracking affected some two 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.

[MichMan]

1. How is it a win for consumers if state government keeps the money?

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Google's tactics were found to be in violation of those states' privacy laws

From a NYT article -

Google Agrees to $392 Million Privacy Settlement With 40 States

Under the agreement, which state attorneys general said was the largest U.S. internet privacy settlement, Google must also make its location-tracking practices clearer to users.


By Cecilia Kang
Nov. 14, 2022 Updated 12:23 p.m. ET

(snip)

More than four years after Europe rolled out data privacy rules for its citizens, Congress and regulators have failed to agree to a federal data protection law in the United States. Lawmakers have squabbled over details of privacy proposals, and tech giants have deployed armies of lobbyists to water down or destroy legislation.

In lieu of federal law, states including California, Colorado and Virginia have enacted their own privacy rules, creating a patchwork of regulations that artificially begin and end at state boundaries. State attorneys general have also policed tech giants through lawsuits and have settled or have active litigation against Google, Meta, Apple and Amazon over claims of antitrust violations, harmful speech, privacy breaches and illegal labor practices.

(snip)

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/technology/google-privacy-settlement.html

[MichMan]

3. So there were no citizens had their privacy violated, only government agencies?

Must be the case, but makes me ask who was Google tracking?

I still don't understand how it was a win for consumers if none of them were affected?

[BumRushDaShow]

4. There's nothing stopping "citizens" from filing class action suits

although the EULAs of these operating systems and apps are often tricky for the average user to get around due to all the legalese.

The point here is to penalize the company for violating state law, with the idea that it will force them to change their policies and practices.

As state AGs, they have a deep pocket and the resources to trigger some kind of action (e.g., settlement because they know that the company wouldn't want to waste resources going to court).

Google settled with AZ last month and they planned to use the money (after paying the lawyer bills - probably contracted ones) for training and staffing in their privacy and consumer education, and outreach programs. I know some governments maintain "Consumer advocates" that are available for consumers to contact for various services and issues.