In order to resolve California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s claims that Google’s location-privacy practices broke California’s consumer protection laws, Google has agreed to pay $93 million. Google was accused by the California Department of Justice of “collecting, storing, and using their location data” for consumer advertising without their knowledge or consent.
According to the lawsuit, Google kept gathering consumer information about a user’s location even after the customer disabled the “location history” feature. Last year, the business resolved complaints in Arizona and Washington alleging improper customer tracking.
Along with paying $93 million, Google also promised to “deter future misconduct.” Given that location-based advertising is an essential component of Google’s advertising platform and that the internet giant derives the majority of its revenue from advertising, this settlement, which won’t truly affect Google’s huge finances, is significant.
Additionally, the California Attorney General has asked Google to offer consumers in-depth information about the location data it gathers going forward in order to increase openness regarding location monitoring. Users must be informed by the firm that their location data may be used for ad personalisation.
