Lawsuits against Google and its user tracking features have no end. The search giant has recently paid $100 million to Illinois residents over violating their privacy in the Google Photos app. The company will now have to pay another $85 million to Arizona. In 2020, Arizona’s Attorney General accused Google of collecting location data from Android users for targeted ads, which was done without their consent. According to Arizona’s Attorney General Mark Brnovich, this is one of the largest settlements in the state’s history. Brnovich says Google has used “dark patterns” and deceptive practices to collect users’ location data.
Google will pay $85 million to Arizona state over a data privacy violation
The lawsuit claims Google has used mapping and weather apps to collect the location data even when the location tracking has been turned off. This act is seemingly against Arizona’s state laws, and now Google should pay a hefty fine to settle the lawsuit. However, this is not the only accusation against Google. The lawsuit also accused Google of deliberately complicating privacy settings and making it difficult for users to find location tracking features. Meanwhile, Google believes the lawsuit is filed based on outdated policies. “We provide straightforward controls and auto delete options for location data and are always working to minimize the data we collect,” company’s spokesperson José Castañeda said. Arizona is not the only state suing Google for violating privacy rules. Indiana, Texas, and Washington have already sued Google for the same thing. Additionally, Google has numerous privacy lawsuits in Australia, France, the UK, etc. Recently, British and Dutch courts filed a lawsuit against Google for its unfair advertising practices. The search giant should pay $25.4 billion in fines if it couldn’t win the case.
