HAVE BEEN CONTACTED. NEWS 8 ON YOUR SIDE NOW. GOOGLE HAS AGREED TO A NEARLY $400 MILLION SETTLEMENT WITH 40 STATES IN CONNECTION AN INVESTIGATION INTO HOW THE COMPANY USERS LOCATIONS, EVEN CONSUMERS HAD OPTED OUT OF BEING TRACKED. THIS $381 MILLION SETTLEMENT IS THE LARGEST MULTI-STATE PAID ATTORNEY GENERAL PRIVACY SETTLEMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY. PENNSYLVANIA BY THE WAY, IS SET TO RECEIVE $19.6 MILLION FROM THIS SETTLEMENT. THE ATTORNEYS GENERAL OPENED THE GOOGLE INVESTIGATION FOLLOWING A 2018 ASSOCIATED PRESS ARTICLE THAT REVEALED GOOGLE RECORDS. I’M SORRY. GOOGLE RECORDS. YOUR MOVEMENTS, EVEN WHEN YOU EXPLICITLY TELL IT NOT TO. AS DETAILED IN THE SETTLEMENT, ATTORNEYS GENERAL FOUND THAT GOOGLE VIOLATED CONSUMER PROTECTION LAWS BY CONTINUING THE TRACKING PRACTICES IN VARIOUS WAYS SINCE AT LEAST 2014. LOCATION DATA, OF COURSE, IS A KEY PART OF GOOGLE’S DIGITAL ADVERTISING BUSINESS AND USES IT TO BUILD USER PROFILES AND THEN TARGET ADS TO US ON BEHALF ITS ADVERTISING CUSTOMERS. AS PART OF THE SETTLEMENT, GOOGLE HAS AGREED SHARE MORE INFORMATION WITH CONSUMERS WHEN THEY TURN LOCATION ACCOUNT SETTINGS ON AND OFF. AND GOOGLE IS ALSO GOING TO CREATE A WEB PAGE THAT GIVES USERS INFORMATION ABOUT TH
40 states, including Pennsylvania, reach $391.5M settlement with Google over location tracking practices
Pennsylvania and 39 other states have reached a $391.5 million settlement with Google over its location tracking practices relating to Google Account settings.Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Monday that it’s the largest multistate attorney general privacy settlement in the history of the U.S.Pennsylvania is set to receive more than $19.6 million.The attorneys general opened the Google investigation following a 2018 Associated Press article that revealed Google “records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to.”As detailed in the settlement, the attorneys general found that Google violated state consumer protection laws by continuing the tracking practices in various ways since at least 2014.Location data is a key part of Google’s digital advertising business, and the company uses it to build user profiles and target ads on behalf of its advertising customers.Google agreed to a series of provisions as part of the settlement, including:Requiring Google to show additional information to users whenever they turn an account setting “on” or “off.”Making key information about location tracking unavoidable for users (i.e., not hidden).Creating an enhanced “Location Technologies” webpage where users can get detailed information about the type(s) of location data Google collects and how it’s used.The attorney general said the settlement also puts limits on Google’s use and storage of certain types of location information and requires Google account controls to be more user-friendly.
Pennsylvania and 39 other states have reached a $391.5 million settlement with Google over its location tracking practices relating to Google Account settings.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Monday that it’s the largest multistate attorney general privacy settlement in the history of the U.S.
Pennsylvania is set to receive more than $19.6 million.
The attorneys general opened the Google investigation following a 2018 Associated Press article that revealed Google “records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to.”
As detailed in the settlement, the attorneys general found that Google violated state consumer protection laws by continuing the tracking practices in various ways since at least 2014.
Location data is a key part of Google’s digital advertising business, and the company uses it to build user profiles and target ads on behalf of its advertising customers.
Google agreed to a series of provisions as part of the settlement, including:
- Requiring Google to show additional information to users whenever they turn an account setting “on” or “off.”
- Making key information about location tracking unavoidable for users (i.e., not hidden).
- Creating an enhanced “Location Technologies” webpage where users can get detailed information about the type(s) of location data Google collects and how it’s used.
The attorney general said the settlement also puts limits on Google’s use and storage of certain types of location information and requires Google account controls to be more user-friendly.