Google to pay $29.5 million in geolocation lawsuits

Tech giant Google has reportedly agreed to pay $29.5 million to settle separate lawsuits with Washington DC and Indiana over the company’s localization practices.

The Hill reports that Google has reached a settlement with Washington DC and Indiana, agreeing to pay a total of $29.5 million to resolve separate lawsuits over its location practices. As part of the settlements, the tech giant pledged not to mislead users about the collection and use of their location data in location history and web activity and apps.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita announced that the state has reached a settlement with Google for $20 million to resolve a lawsuit over allegations of deceptive location tracking practices. In a statement, Rokita said the settlement reflects the state’s commitment to protecting consumers and holding companies accountable for their actions.

“This settlement is another manifestation of our unwavering commitment to protecting Hoosiers from Big Tech’s intrusive schemes,” Rokita said. “We will continue to hold these companies accountable for their mishandling of consumers.”

Several states have filed lawsuits against Google after an Associated Press investigation in 2018 highlighted the extent of the company’s location-based practices. Despite efforts by a coalition of state attorneys general to reach a settlement with Google, negotiations ultimately failed, leading Indiana to file its own lawsuit.

In November, Google agreed to pay a settlement of nearly $392 million to 40 states to resolve the case brought by the coalition. Indiana’s recent settlement with Google for $20 million is separate from this earlier resolution.

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita accused Google of using location data collected from Indiana consumers to create detailed user profiles and targeted ads, while misleading users about its practices since at least 2014. Despite the allegations, Indiana’s settlement with Google states that the agreement does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by the company.

DC Attorney General Karl Racine announced his office has reached a $9.5 million settlement with Google over allegations that the company used ‘dark models’ to manipulate customers and access their data. location. Racine said Google made it difficult for users to prevent their location from being tracked, leading his office to file a lawsuit against the company.

Under the terms of the settlement, Google will be required to clearly disclose to its customers how their location data is collected, stored and used, and will also implement measures such as issuing a pop-up notification to users with the history tracking enabled and maintaining a web page describing the company’s tracking practices and policies.

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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship issues. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan