Tech giant Google has reportedly agreed to pay $29.5 million to settle separate lawsuits with Washington DC and Indiana over the company’s location tracking practices.
The Hill reports that Google has reached a settlement with Washington DC and Indiana, agreeing to pay a total of $29.5 million to resolve separate lawsuits regarding its location tracking practices. As part of the settlements, the tech giant has pledged not to mislead users about the collection and use of their location data in location history and web and app activity.
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Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has announced that the state has reached a settlement with Google for $20 million to resolve a lawsuit over allegations of deceptive location-tracking practices. In a statement, Rokita said that the settlement reflects the state’s commitment to protecting consumers and holding companies accountable for their actions.
“This settlement is another manifestation of our steadfast commitment to protect Hoosiers from Big Tech’s intrusive schemes,” Rokita said. “We will continue holding these companies accountable for their improper manipulation of consumers.”
Multiple states filed lawsuits against Google after an Associated Press investigation in 2018 shed light on the extent of the company’s location-tracking practices. Despite efforts by a coalition of state attorneys general to reach a settlement with Google, negotiations ultimately failed, leading Indiana to file its own lawsuit.
In November, Google agreed to pay a settlement of nearly $392 million to 40 states to resolve the case brought by the coalition. Indiana’s recent settlement with Google for $20 million is separate from this earlier resolution.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita accused Google of using location data collected from Indiana consumers to build detailed user profiles and target ads, while also misleading users about its practices since at least 2014. Despite the allegations, the settlement reached between Indiana and Google states that the agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing on the part of the company.
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine has announced that his office has reached a settlement with Google for $9.5 million over allegations that the company used “dark patterns” to manipulate customers and gain access to their location data. Racine said that Google made it difficult for users to prevent their location from being tracked, leading his office to file a lawsuit against the company.
Under the terms of the settlement, Google will be required to clearly disclose to its customers how their location data is collected, stored, and used, and will also implement measures such as issuing a pop-up notification to users with location history enabled and maintaining a webpage outlining the company’s location tracking practices and policies.
Read more at the Hill here.
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