Google spends $392 million to settle historic US privacy lawsuit

Tram Ho

A statement from Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said it was the largest multi-state privacy settlement ever made by US authorities. The agreement also includes a commitment that binds Google to improve transparency about tracking to target ads to customers.

The US lawsuit began after a 2018 article from the Associated Press reported that Google was tracking users even if they chose not to accept it. Specifically, users continue to be continuously tracked by Google through separate Web & App Activity settings even though they have turned off the option to manage Location History on their phones. me.

The states involved in the case include Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.

In a statement, Google said that the allegations were based on product features that were no longer updated many years ago.

The rare 40-state joint lawsuit stems from state officials’ impatience with the federal government’s inability to tighten its grip on big tech companies due to a legislative deadlock.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers remain divided on how to implement national online privacy rules, with tech companies lobbying furiously to limit their influence. their potential action.

This is in stark contrast to Europe, where US tech giants have faced strict privacy regulations since 2018. Google, Amazon and others have all been hit with hefty fines after found to be in violation. As for Google, the European Union (EU) has also issued antitrust fines totaling 8.25 billion euros ($8.5 billion) since 2017 until now.

In South Korea, Google and Meta in September were fined a total of $71 million for collecting users’ personal information without consent for the purpose of posting targeted ads.

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Source : Genk