Google will pay Arizona an $85 million settlement to settle allegations that the company illegally tracked the location of users of Android devices. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sued Google in May 2020, claiming that its Android phones and apps have “dark modes” (design tactics that can manipulate user behavior) built into the software.
The lawsuit argues that even after users turn off location sharing, Google is running location tracking in the background to collect ad data and making privacy settings that keep location information private unnecessarily hard to find. Previously, a 2018 Associated Press report found that Google continued to track users through services such as Google Maps, weather updates and browser searches, even when location history was turned off on the user side.
The settlement is one of the largest per capita payments Google has made in consumer fraud lawsuits in years, according to Bloomberg.” In a statement, Brnovich said, “When I was elected attorney general, I promised Arizonans that I would fight for them and hold everyone, including companies like Google, accountable. I’m proud of this historic settlement, which proves that no entity, not even a large tech company, is above the law.”
Google spokesman José Castañeda claimed the case was based on outdated product policies that have long since been updated.” We offer straightforward controls and automatic deletion options for location data and have been working hard to minimize the data we collect, we are pleased that this matter has been resolved and will continue to focus our attention on providing useful products for our users.”
