Google settles for 30 million dollars in US for misleading location settings

Google has settled with two American regions because the company allegedly misled consumers with the settings for storing location data. In total, the company will pay $29.5 million. The company previously settled with 40 states for $391.5 million.

The settlements revolve around the Web & App Activity setting, where Google asked users if it can keep search history, Chrome browser history and activity history of sites and apps that use Google services. This would allow Google to provide the user with better search results and suggestions.

If users enabled this feature, Google collected users’ location data, it turned out in 2018. Prosecutors from dozens of American states found that Google violated the law because the company did not make it clear that it collects location data with this setting. The company also collected the location data when users turned off the Location History function. The plaintiffs therefore filed lawsuits. Google recently settled with two plaintiffs. The company pays the state of Indiana according to the Associated Press 20 million dollars, Washington DC will receive $9.5 million.

Google says it has not broken the law, but has since adjusted the settings. In November the company settled, according to AP for $391.5 million with forty American states. In Australia it did lead to a lawsuit; here the company was fined 60 million Australian dollars, then 41.5 million euros.