Todd Rokita, the state’s attorney general, said that Google would make a USD 20 million payment to Indiana. It is to end the state’s legal action against the internet company over allegedly misleading location monitoring tactics.
When discussions between the business and a group of state attorneys general came to a standstill, Rokitas, he said, filed a different complaint against the search engine giant. Finally, in November, the business and those states agreed on a USD 391.5 million payment.
“This settlement is another manifestation of our steadfast commitment to protecting Hoosiers from Big Tech’s intrusive schemes,” Rokita said.
After an Associated Press report in 2018 revealed that Google kept track of users location data even after they opted out of such monitoring by turning off a feature called “location history,” states started looking into the matter. Under the agreement with Indiana, Google made no admissions of wrongdoing.
In a long statement released on Friday, the business said that during the previous few years, it had increased openness and created tools to assist customers in controlling their data and minimizing the data it collected. The ability to automatically remove data on a rolling basis has been made available to all new users, according to Google, who said it has activated auto-delete controls and turned them on by default.
Google created Google maps incognito mode
Google added that it created options like Google Maps incognito mode. The business stated, “These are just some ways we have worked to provide more choice and transparency.”
In Indiana’s case, Google is accused of using location data to create in-depth user profiles and target advertisements. In addition, it claimed that from at least 2014, the business has misled and deceived users about its procedures.
Rokita claimed he filed a lawsuit against Google because even a small bit of location information might reveal a person’s identity and daily activities. According to him, such data can be used to infer personal information such as income, health status, political or religious affiliation, and membership in support groups—as well as significant life events like marriage and childbirth.
According to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals judgment, Google is about to face a class action lawsuit accusing the internet giant of gathering data and monitoring children’s online activities without permission.
Children brought the claim in 2019 through their parents against Google, YouTube. In addition other companies that operate channels on the video streaming service, including Cartoon Network, Hasbro, DreamWorks Animation, and Mattel Inc. According to Google’s “permanent identifiers,” the corporations are to liable for targeting youngsters with adverts. The judgement was rendered a year after the lawsuit was dismissed by another court.