PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In the largest multi-state privacy settlement in U.S. history, Google agrees to pay $391 million to 40 states for allegedly misleading users on location tracking. Pennsylvania and New Jersey are among the states involved in the settlement.
The attorneys general launched an investigation in 2018. There were concerns Google was deceiving users on how it tracked personal data, and that the state consumer protection laws were being violated since 2014.
The issue was over two Google account settings that track movement.
One is the location setting. You need to toggle that to the on position to allow data collection.
The other is a separate setting on web & app activity. That’s automatically turned on, which a lot of users didn’t know.
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Both settings can build detailed profiles and target specific ads to users on behalf of the tech company’s advertisers.
Under the agreement settlement, Google says it will make its tracking policies clearer.
New Jersey will get more than $17 million and Pennsylvania will receive more than $19.5 million in the settlement.
“Google’s impact on the lives of everyday Americans is pervasive — they have a responsibility to consumers to ensure that the data they collect is only obtained with express consent from the user,” said Pennsylvania Attorney General and Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro.
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“My office will continue to fight to ensure consumers can control when and how their personal data is collected.”
“Digital platforms like Google cannot claim to provide privacy controls to users then turn around and disregard those controls to collect and sell data to advertisers against users’ express wishes—and at great profit.” said New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin.
“When online platforms violate consumers’ right to privacy, they put their users at risk. This settlement holds Google accountable for its misleading conduct and requires the company to make meaningful changes to its business practices to ensure consumers’ privacy rights are respected and protected.”