Google agreed to pay $391.5 million in a privacy recompense with 40 state attorneys general over its location tracking disciplines.
The States asserted that the search engine giant deluded people into considering they had turned off proximity-based data collection when the firm continued to distribute that information. Google pledged to improve its location tracking divulgence starting in 2023.
Google Tagged Dishonest In Conduct
For years, Google prioritized personal interest over its users’ privacy, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a statement, They have been subtle and dishonest in their actions.
Consumers believed they had turned off their location tracking features on Google, but the firm continued to secretly compute their activities and use that data for advertisers.
The firm’s policy communications manager asserted that the feature was based on an outdated product protocol. He claimed the company made the necessary changes years ago. However, the recompense comes as governments around the world are using lawsuits and regulations to rein in Big Tech.
Fined Policies Help Google Become More Transparent
Notably, in 2018, the European Union put the General Information Protection Regulation, or GDPR, into law. Recently, Facebook parent Meta was fined $400 million for ceasing to function to protect children’s privacy on Instagram.
Additionally, Google and Meta were also fined $237 million in France over user tracking in January. Similarly, In India, Google was smashed with a $113 million fine over its app store fee policies.
Having these piled up fines, Google took the front row in advocating the need to protect people’s privacy and carried out new security tech on its Pixel 7 smartphone.
Google mostly makes its money from digital ad sales. Binding advertisers to consumers requires data about search interests, buying behavior, and location. Google set a 3% fall in ad revenue between the second and third quarters of this year.
However, a press investigation from 2018 exposed Google’s tracking practices which revealed the firm pulling in data even if people turned off location history. The settlement compels Google to be more transparent with users’ data.
