Privacy settlement – Google will spend $391.5 million (£330 million) to resolve claims over the way it gathers user data. According to 40 US states, the internet giant monitored the whereabouts of individuals who turned off location services on their devices.
Google has been instructed to create a web page informing individuals of the data it gathers and to be forthcoming with location tracking in the future.
The multi-state privacy settlement is the biggest in US history. An official from Google said: “Consistent with improvements we’ve made in recent years, we have settled this investigation, which was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago.”
In response to comparable concerns about the way it gathers location data, Google last month agreed to pay Arizona $85 million.
After Texas, Indiana, Washington, and the District of Columbia sued Google in January, just one lawsuit pertaining to the subject is still pending in US courts.