Google agrees to pay $391.5 million settlement in the US
40 US Attorneys General (AGs) have agreed a $391.5 million settlement with Google over its location tracking practices. The settlement, co-led by Oregon’s and Nebraska’s AGs, is the largest attorney general-led consumer privacy settlement ever in the US.
The AGs say that Google misled users into thinking they had turned off location tracking in their account settings, when, in fact, Google continued to collect their location information. Google has now agreed to significantly improve its location tracking controls, and be more transparent, starting in 2023.
The settlement requires Google to:
- Show additional information to users whenever they turn a location-related account setting “on” or “off”;
- Make key information about location tracking unavoidable (not hidden) for users; and
- Give users detailed information about the types of location data Google collects and how it’s used at an enhanced “Location Technologies” webpage.
Oregon will introduce comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation in the upcoming 2023 legislative session.
See: Oregon DOJ - Google: AG Rosenblum Announces Largest AG Consumer Privacy Settlement in U.S. History