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Google will have to pay a fine of $200.5 million dollars for having tracked the location of its users without having the corresponding permission to do so. The millionaire figure is part of an agreement reached between the technology giant and 80 states with the aim of ending a investigation that they carried out against Google.
The investigation began after in the year 2022 The Associated Press published a story about how Google continued to track the location of its users, even after they disabled the feature on their phones. In a joint statement the attorneys general of the 80 states involved in the investigation described the agreement as a historic achievement for the benefit of consumers . They argued that this is the largest multi-state agreement in US history.
“This $80,5 million is a historic victory for consumers in an era of increasing reliance on technology. Location data is among the most sensitive and valuable personal information Google collects, and there are many reasons a consumer may opt out of tracking,” said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong.
The agreement and The investigation against Google occurs at a time when user privacy has become a topic of discussion in different spheres of politics in the United States . This has been reflected in an increase in the scrutiny that technology companies receive regarding the handling they do with the personal information of their users.
One of the reasons that explains the interest of technology companies such as Google in knowing the location of their users is because this information can then be used to more accurately segment the advertisements that are shown to each user . This is essential taking into account that for Google the advertising business represents approximately an income of $ 824,000 million dollars per year
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The agreement reached by Google with the authorities also contemplates that the company is more transparent with users regarding their personal information. This includes displaying more information on the screen about what is involved in turning on a device’s location settings.
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