In recent years, Google has paid several fines for various reasons, but the one we are talking about today is one of the most considerable that the technology giant has agreed to pay, which shows that there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of security and privacy.
In total, Google will pay a total of 29.5 million dollars (27.6 million euros) to resolve two different lawsuits filed by Indiana and Washington DC on the grounds of their “misleading” location tracking practices.
Millionaire fine for Google
Specifically, on this occasion, Google has agreed to pay 9.5 million in the US capital and another 20 million dollars more in Indiana after their respective courts sued the company for the location tracking without consent user express.
This sanction agreement adds to another 391.5 million dollars that Google has agreed to pay in the last month in 40 states. This figure above 400 million for this reason alone could increase further, since the resolution of States such as Texas and Washington is still missing.
It is expected that, with this accumulation of fines, Google will incorporate a web page that discloses all types and sources of location data it collects, and to refrain from sharing users’ precise location information with third-party advertisers without explicit consent.
In addition, you must automatically delete location data within 30 days of obtaining the information.
Tracking locations without permission
These lawsuits arose from the discovery in 2018 that iOS and Android users, even if they turned off location historythey were being tracked by geolocation on their mobiles through a feature called “Web & App Activity”.
Among the accusations against Google was the use of so-called “dark patterns”, which refer to those design choices aimed at concealment and deception to users so that they are not fully aware of those actions that they are carrying out and entail privacy violations or that they are sharing more information than they believe without their knowledge or consent.
Google uses location data collected from Indiana consumers to create detailed user profiles and targeted ads, but Google has concealed and misled users about its practices since at least 2014., said the state it’s a statement.
In addition to the million-dollar fine, Google has been ordered to notify users with location history and/or web and app activity enabled if location data is being collected, along with steps users can take to turn off the setting and remove data they don’t want shared with the major search engine company .