Google To Pay NJ Nearly $18M In Location Tracking Settlement, AG Says

NEW JERSEY - The Garden State is slated to receive millions of dollars from Google as part of a settlement resolving allegations that the company misled customers about its location data collection practices, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

Google will pay a total $391.5 million to 40 states in what has become the largest multi-state privacy settlement with state Attorneys General in U.S. history, according to New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. New Jersey is set to get $17.79 million from the settlement, Platkin said.

The settlement stems from an Attorneys General investigation into the sensitive location data collected by Google, a key part of the company’s digital advertising business that uses data to build user profiles for targeted ads. Google tracks customers’ movements using GPS, cell tower, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth signals, Platkin said, which allow the ability to track users’ individual locations inside and outside buildings. This location data can also be used to trace an individual’s identity, routines and personal details, Platkin added.

“Digital platforms like Google cannot claim to provide privacy controls to users then turn around and disregard those controls to collect and sell data to advertisers against users’ express wishes—and at great profit.” Platkin said in a statement. “When online platforms violate consumers’ right to privacy, they put their users at risk. This settlement holds Google accountable for its misleading conduct and requires the company to make meaningful changes to its business practices to ensure consumers’ privacy rights are respected and protected.”

The Attorneys General of the 40 states involved in the settlement opened the investigation after a 2018 Associated Press article revealed that Google “records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to.”

As per the settlement, Google has agreed to several new provisions aimed at protecting consumers with additional transparency into the company’s location data collection practices, such as:

• Require Google to show additional information to users whenever they turn an account setting “on” or “off”
• Clearly disclose key information about location tracking to consumers
• Create an enhanced “Location Technologies” webpage where users can get detailed information about the type(s) of location data Google collects and how it will be used

The settlement also places new limits on Google’s use and storage of certain types of location information and requires a more user-friendly interface for Google’s account controls, officials said.

As of Monday, the company has outlined steps it has taken to be more transparent about its location data usage. You can view that page here.

“When an online company promises consumers privacy, we expect them to make good on that promise,” said Cari Fais, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “Google’s privacy controls did not stop Google from collecting data, regardless of what choices consumers made, a clear and egregious violation of their own business model and our consumer protection laws. This settlement sends a clear message that we will hold companies accountable when they fail to follow through on the assurances they make to consumers.”