Google has agreed to pay $391.5 million in settlements to 40 states alleging that the company tracked users’ locations without their knowledge. As part of the settlement, Google is required to alert users when the location tracking feature is enabled and provide information on how to turn it off starting in 2023.
A coalition of attorneys general from Oregon, New York, Florida, Nebraska and other states filed the lawsuit in response to a 2018 report by The Associated Press that revealed how Google silently tracked users’ locations across its various services for iPhone and Android. The lawsuit alleges that from 2014 to 2019, Google misled users into thinking their location had been turned off and would then use that information to sell personalized ads.
In a blog post published Monday, Google said the lawsuit was based on an “outdated product policy” that the company has addressed. Google will also begin providing more “detailed information” about the tracking data it collects during the account setup process and is rolling out a new toggle to turn off and delete location history “in one simple process. and web and app activity.
The settlement comes just a month after Google paid $85 million to the state of Arizona for allegedly tricking users into believing they had turned off location tracking on their Android phones and apps. It also faces joint lawsuits from Washington, D.C., Texas, Indiana and Washington state that make similar claims about Google’s old location tracking practices.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in a statement, “For years, Google has put profits ahead of its users’ privacy. Consumers believe they have turned off Google’s location tracking features, but the company continues to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers.”
