Google has admitted to tracking users’ locations without their consent and has agreed to pay a $391.5m settlement to 40 US states.
After an inquiry concluded that the tech company was guilty of the accusations, the case—which has been called the largest US privacy settlement ever—makes a victory for consumers.
The states’ investigation, according to the Attorney, was sparked by a 2018 Associated Press story that discovered Google continued to track people’s location data even after they opted out of such tracking by disabling a feature the company called “location history,” according to evidence put forward against Google.
The agreement turns into the biggest multi-state privacy settlement in US history.
Big data companies, in recent years, especially social media companies (such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) have been in and out of court for multiple privacy charges.
Analysts note that the win against Google may lead to reinforced investigations of others.
