A lawsuit will be settled by Google worth $85 million to resolve the claims of illegally tracking Arizonans Android devices' locations, based on a report by The Verge. The lawsuit was filed in May 2020 by Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich.
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MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 31: A sign is posted in front of a building on the Google campus on January 31, 2022 in Mountain View, California. Google parent company Alphabet will report fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the closing bell. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Location Tracking
Based on the claims of the state and Brnovich, Android phones and apps have "dark patterns" which are designed to manipulate user behavior. The search engine platform has kept tracking the location in the background for them to collect advertising data despite the location sharing of the users not on.
A lot of Google's profit comes from advertising. Adding to the claims, it helps the platform determine which advertisements to market them with by using the location data of its users.
In 2018 when the lawyer started investigating Google, Associated Press found that the company tracks its users through its offered services such as Google maps, weather updates, and browser searchers. All of these are running while the location history of the users is not on.
$85 Million settlement
According to Axios, Google will be paying $77,250,000 to Arizona and $7,750,000 to the outside counsel of the attorney general. The settlement will be going directly to Arizona's general fund for Education, broadband, and internet privacy efforts, while AG's office will be directing $5 million to an accredited law school.
The $85 Million settlement will be part of Google's one of the largest settlements in a lawsuit. As per Brnovich, he promised the people in the state that this case will be fought for big corporations like Google will be held accountable.
He added, "I am proud of this historic settlement that proves no entity, not even big tech companies, is above the law."
Google's Response
Meanwhile, Google cleared that the claims of the state were already updated a long time ago and it was based on outdated policies of the company, as reported by Bloomberg.
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This illustration picture shows Google map application displaying COVID-19 restrictions along your route on a smartphone in Arlington, Virginia on June 9, 2020, A new version of Google's mapping service being rolled out will display pandemic-related transit alerts and let people know when buses or trains might be crowded.
Google Spokesperson Jose Castaneda stated that they will continue to work on minimizing the data that they will be collecting and will also continue to provide further information regarding location data controls and auto delete options. In the end, Castaneda added that the company is relieved that this case was resolved.
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Written by Inno Flores
