Google paid a fine of nearly $400 million for following users

Google has agreed to pay $391.5 million for its location tracking practices related to account settings, requested by prosecutors in 40 US states.

The settlement was described by prosecutors as the largest payment in US history by a private subjectin response to a lawsuit filed by several states.

According to a statement from the Connecticut Attorney General’s office, Google collected location information from consumers who specifically asked not to.

“Our investigation found that Google continued to collect this personal information even after consumers they told him not to. This is an unacceptable invasion of consumer privacy and a violation of state law,” wrote that state’s attorney general, William Tong.

Prosecutors stressed that “location data is among the most sensitive and valuable personal information Google collects, and there are many reasons a consumer might choose to for not accepting the sequel“.

The note points out that with only a “limited amount of location data” can know “a person’s identity and routines and be used to infer personal details”.

Google uses this data to build detailed user profiles and target ads to consumers on behalf of its advertising clients.

“For years, Google has prioritized profit privacy of its users,” Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said in another statement.

The investigation began in 2018 after the US agency AP revealed that Google continued to record users’ movements even after explicitly asking them to stop doing so.

And it ruled that “Google has been violating state consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about its location-tracking practices since at least 2014.”

In addition to paying the fine, which prevents the case from going to trial, Google has also pledged to be more transparent about tracking user location.

Specifically, Google will be required to display additional information to users whenever they enable or disable a location-related account setting; key location tracking information no it will be hidden from users and will provide explanations via a website about the types of location data it collects and how it is used.

It’s not the first time the company has had problems with user privacy. In August, he had to deny the collection of data from minors.

Law against the abuse of big tech

Meanwhile, in Europe, the laws also try to limit the bigtech. The European law on digital markets enters into force at the beginning of November, setting new antitrust rules for large internet platforms with the aim of countering the abuse of power by giants such as Google, Amazon, Facebook or Apple.

Its provisions, however, will start applying in six months, starting on 2 May 2023 or at the latest on 3 July next year, the European Commission said in a statement.

The objective of the regulation, proposed in 2020, is to put an end to unfair practices through digital platforms that act as a link between businesses and consumers.

The law establishes preventive obligations in terms of free competition that technology companies must respect before Brussels investigates them and which concern precisely the practices for which they have been fined and brought before the European Justice in recent years.

Therefore, it prohibits them from combining the personal data they acquire from users through the multiple services they offer, for example that Facebook cross-references the information it obtains from its social network with that of the messaging service WhatsApp, except with prior consent.

They will also have to allow companies to access data generated by their customers, allow users to uninstall applications that come by default on mobile devices or technology companies will be prohibited from favoring their own services over those of the competition.

Requirements that all companies with 45 million monthly users e more than 10,000 business users per year.

In case platforms repeatedly fail to comply with these requirements, the Commission can impose sanctions until the 20th of this month.