Massachusetts is slated to obtain $9.3 million and Google faces a slew of latest necessities below a settlement over the tech big’s location monitoring practices.
The $391.5 million, 40-state settlement concludes an investigation that discovered Google “violated state consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about its location tracking practices since at least 2014,” in line with Attorney General Maura Healey’s workplace.
Google, based mostly in Mountain View, California, stated it fastened the issues a number of years in the past.
“Consistent with improvements we’ve made in recent years, we have settled this investigation, which was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago,” firm spokesperson Jose Castaneda stated in an announcement.
State prosecutors opened their Google investigation following a 2018 Associated Press article that exposed that Google can document an individual’s actions even when the “Location History” setting is turned off as a result of “Web & App Activity,” a separate account setting that additionally tracks location, is mechanically turned on when customers arrange Google accounts, together with all Android telephone customers.
“Google uses the personal and behavioral data it collects to build detailed user profiles and target ads on behalf of its advertising customers,” Healey’s workplace stated. “Location data is among the most sensitive and valuable personal information Google collects — even a limited amount of location data can expose a person’s identity and routines. This data has the potential to reveal intimate and sensitive details, including, as Google has acknowledged, whether a person has sought reproductive health care.”
“Technology companies need to be upfront with users about how and when their data is tracked and shared, especially when it comes to location information which can reveal personal information about people’s lives,” Healey stated. “This unprecedented agreement holds Google accountable for these deceptive practices, requires more transparency, and ensures more consumer control over what information is used.”
As a part of the settlement, Google additionally agreed to make these practices extra clear to customers. That contains exhibiting them extra info after they flip location account settings on and off and retaining a webpage that provides customers details about the info Google collects.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed the primary state motion towards Google in May 2020, alleging that the corporate had defrauded its customers by deceptive them into believing they may preserve their whereabouts non-public by turning off location monitoring within the settings of their software program.
Arizona settled its case with Google for $85 million final month, however by then attorneys normal in a number of different states and the District of Columbia had additionally pounced on the corporate with their very own lawsuits searching for to carry Google accountable for its alleged deception.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”