Google to pay m after company used location data without consent

Google to pay $93m after company used location data without consent

Published September 15,2023


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US-based know-how firm has settled for $93 million with , resolving allegations that the corporate used location knowledge with out knowledgeable consent, violating shopper safety legal guidelines.

The settlement follows the multi-year investigation that discovered the tech large deceived customers by storing, gathering and utilizing their location knowledge for promoting and shopper profiling with out consent, in keeping with a news launch from California Attorney .

“Our investigation revealed that was telling its users one thing — that it would no longer track their location once they opted out — but doing the opposite and continuing to track its users’ movements for its own commercial gain,” Bonta mentioned within the launch. “That’s unacceptable, and we’re holding accountable with today’s settlement.”

A spokesperson for did not instantly reply to a request for remark.

The settlement comes after reached settlements with 40 different states final 12 months for $391.5 million over its location monitoring practices.

The -based firm receives an excellent chunk of its income by way of location-based promoting as a result of advertisers need to market to customers based mostly on the place they’re situated. The firm makes use of location knowledge to create habits profiles of its customers to determine which ads are greatest.

Bonta alleged in a criticism that deceived customers by falsely telling them in the event that they turned off the “location history” setting on their browser that their location knowledge would not be saved. According to the criticism, continued to retailer customers’ location knowledge even after the setting was turned off. additionally allegedly falsely informed customers they may choose out of ads tailor-made to their location.

Under the settlement, may even be required to develop into extra clear about location monitoring, present extra info to customers after they allow location-related settings and supply extra info by way of a “location technologies” webpage that would come with details about location knowledge, in keeping with the discharge.

The firm shall be required to open up to customers if makes use of location historical past knowledge to construct advert profiles.

Source: www.anews.com.tr