Google pays 93 million to stop complaint for tracking users’ location after they opted out

New York, Sept 15 (EFE).- Google agreed to pay 93 million dollars (about 87 million euros) to the state of California to stop a complaint stating that it tracked users’ location without their knowledge.

The settlement follows a several years investigation by the California Department of Justice, which determined that Google misled users into believing they were not being tracked when in fact they were.

“Google was telling its users one thing–that it would no longer track their location once they opted out- but doing the opposite and continuing to track its users’ movements for its own commercial gain,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement.

“That’s unacceptable, and we’re holding Google accountable with today’s settlement,” he added.

Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Google must also provide more information about the location data it collects from users.

This is not the first lawsuit Google has seen over its location tracking feature, as last year it paid $85 million to stop another similar complaint in Arizona, and then another $392 million to settle similar lawsuits in 40 states, among which were Oregon, New York and Florida.

Since these lawsuits occurred in the United States, Google has changed its tool and according to company spokesperson José Castañeda, the accusations are “based on obsolete product policies that we changed years ago.” EFE

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