Google has agreed to pay a total of $29.5 million to settle two different lawsuits brought by Indiana and Washington, D.C., over its “deceptive” location tracking practices.
The search and advertising giant is required to pay $9.5 million to D.C. and $20 million to Indiana after the states sued the company for charges that the company tracked users’ locations without their express consent.
The settlement adds to the $391.5 million Google agreed to pay to 40 states over similar allegations last month. The company is still facing two more location-tracking lawsuits in Texas and Washington.
The lawsuits came in response to revelations in 2018 that the internet company continued to track users’ whereabouts on Android and iOS through a setting called Web & App Activity despite turning Location History options off.
Google was also accused of employing dark patterns, which refer to design choices intended to deceive users into carrying out actions that violate their privacy and overshare information without their knowledge or affirmation.
images from Hacker News
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