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Google will pay the state of Arizona a $85 million settlement to resolve charges that the corporation illegally tracked the whereabouts of Android device users.
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In May 2020, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that "dark patterns" were embedded into its software on Android phones and apps.
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According to the lawsuit, Google kept location tracking operating in the background in order to collect advertising data.
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This occurred even when users switched off location sharing and made privacy settings to keep location information private unnecessarily tough to discover.
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All this happened after The Associated Press reported in 2018 that Google tracks users through services like Google maps, weather updates, and browser searches
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According to reports, this payment is one of the largest paid by Google per capita in a consumer fraud complaint.
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When I was elected attorney general, I promised Arizonans I would fight for them and hold everyone, including corporations like Google, accountable,” Brnovich said in a statement.
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“I am proud of this historic settlement that proves no entity, not even big tech companies, is above the law.”
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According to Google spokesperson José Castaeda, the lawsuit was founded on obsolete product policies that had long since been revised.
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“We provide straightforward controls and auto delete options for location data, and are always working to minimize the data we collect,” Castañeda said.
Image Credits: Google