Google has agreed to pay a total sum of 29.5 million USD to settle two lawsuits over location tracking of users.
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The tech giant Google is required to pay total 20 million dollars to Indiana and 9.5 million dollars to D.C. after being sued by the states for charges that the company tracked users' locations without their express consent.
Google used location data from Indiana consumers to build detailed user profiles and target ads — but misled users about those practices since at least 2014, said Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R), whose state filed a suit against the company along with Washington, D.C.
“This settlement is another manifestation of our steadfast commitment to protect Hoosiers from Big Tech’s intrusive schemes,” Rokita added. “We will continue holding these companies accountable for their improper manipulation of consumers.”
Google is likewise predicted to keep an internet web page that discloses all of the kinds and reassets of place records it gathers in addition to chorus from sharing customers` unique place statistics with third-birthday birthday celebration advertisers with out specific consent.
It'll be needed to routinely delete place records derived from a "tool or from IP addresses in Web & App Activity inside 30 days" of acquiring the statistics. The Mountain View-primarily based totally business enterprise, in November 2022, mentioned that the court cases are primarily based totally on "old product policies" and that it has rolled out some of privateness and transparency upgrades that permit customers to auto-delete place records tied to their accounts.
Pursuant to the settlement, the business enterprise has been ordered to inform customers with Location History and Web & App Activity enabled approximately whether or not place records is being collected, along steps customers can take to disable the settings and delete the records.
