Google Agrees to Record-Breaking Privacy Settlement With 40 States

WebProNews
Google Agrees to Record-Breaking Privacy Settlement With 40 States

Google has agreed to a record-breaking settlement in a privacy suit brought by 40 states over how the company tracks users.

The attorneys general of 40 states sued the company for misleading its customers. Google was accused of tracking users even when they had expressly disabled tracking. According to The New York Times, the company has agreed to a $391.5 million settlement, the largest privacy settlement in history.

“For years, Google prioritized profit over the privacy of people who use Google products and services,” said Ellen Rosenblum, the Oregon attorney general, who led the case along with Nebraska. “Consumers thought they had turned ‘off’ their location tracking features on Google, but the company continued to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers.”

For its part, Google claims the behavior in question had been addressed years earlier.

“Consistent with improvements we’ve made in recent years, we have settled this investigation, which was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago,” said company spokesman José Castañeda.

While this lawsuit may be settled, it doesn’t end Google’s privacy troubles. The company also faces lawsuits by Indiana, Texas, and Washington DC. The company also recently settled another location tracking lawsuit with Arizona to the tune of $85 million.

Google Agrees to Record-Breaking Privacy Settlement With 40 States
Staff

from WebProNews https://ift.tt/lXo7EOn