In a legal battle that unfolded recently, tech giant Google has been slapped with a hefty fine of $93 million, roughly equivalent to Rs 7,000 crore, as a result of allegations that it misled users regarding the tracking and storage of their location information. The lawsuit, initiated by California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, has shed light on Google’s practices concerning user data.
The crux of the issue lies in Google’s alleged misrepresentation of how it managed user location data, leading consumers to believe they had more control over their location information than they actually did. Google permitted users to disable their “location history” and assured them that doing so would prevent the company from tracking their movements. However, the Attorney General’s office contended that Google continued to collect and retain location data from other sources, such as a user’s “web and app activity” tracker, which was automatically enabled.
Furthermore, Google was accused of misleading users about their ability to avoid location-targeted advertisements. While Google has not admitted to these allegations, it has agreed to settle the lawsuit and undertake certain obligations as part of the resolution.
These obligations include a commitment to enhance transparency regarding its location tracking practices, provide users with prior notifications before utilizing location data for the creation of targeted ad profiles, and seek approval from Google’s internal privacy working group before implementing any significant privacy-related changes.
José Castañeda, a spokesperson for Google, emphasized that the company has already made improvements to its policies in recent years and has settled the matter, which was rooted in outdated product policies that have since been modified.
This incident underscores the ongoing scrutiny faced by tech giants regarding user data privacy and consent. Earlier this year, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, was ordered to pay a substantial fine and cease the transfer of data from European Facebook users to the United States for violating European Union data protection regulations.
As debates on digital privacy continue to evolve, regulatory actions and legal battles serve as important markers in the efforts to hold tech companies accountable for their data handling practices.
