Google has agreed to hand over $391.5 million to put a stop to an investigation that spanned 40 states and considered whether the company was tracking people without their knowledge across its services including Google Maps.
The investigation, stemming from a 2018 report, said that Google was tracking the location of people using iPhones as well as Android phones between 2014 and 2019 despite giving the impression that all tracking had been disabled.
Payday
The Verge reports that the settlement also means that Google must now alert users when location tracking is enabled while also making it clear how people can disable the feature from next year.
Despite handing over the cash, Google's blog post notes that the investigation was looking into "outdated product policies" that have already been health with. That doesn't mean that it won't be making changes — Google says that it will be making it more obvious to users that their location data is being collected. A new hub “highlights key location settings to help people make informed choices about their data," the company says.
Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum accused Google of prioritizing "profit over their users’ privacy" in a statement on the subject yesterday.
This isn't the first time that Google has been forced to cough up money in relation to location tracking. Just last month the company paid $85 million to the state of Arizona over similar allegations. In that instance, it was claimed that Google was tricking people into thinking that location tracking was disabled.
While Apple often does its best to tell potential customers that privacy is the best iPhone feature of all, it's important to note that this Google settlement includes the company's apps installed on Apple's phones. Perhaps driving home the point that Apple's App Store can only protect its users' privacy from so much.
