SAN FRANCISCO, CA - On Thursday, April 18th, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila approved a multimillion-dollar class action lawsuit settlement with Google.
According to KRON4, the settlement states that Google published a support page on how to manage and delete a user's location history, which stated, "When you turn off location history for your Google account, it's off for all devices associated with that Google account." Despite stating that, the settlement claims that, "Google's representation was false."
The class action lawsuit comes amid an investigation by the Associated Press (AP), which initially exposed Google for tracking down user information without consent, even if they used a privacy setting that says it will prevent Google from doing so; the settlement also states this information.
According to AP's investigation, whose findings were confirmed by researchers at Princeton University, storing your minute-by-minute travel carries privacy risks. Google says that it will prevent the company from remembering where you have been, with its support page on the subject saying, "You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored."
The investigation revealed that this is not true and that when turning off "Location History" only stopped Google from creating a location timeline that the user could view. According to the settlement, Google, however, still continued to track the phone owners and kept a record of their locations.
Even when "Location History" is turned off, the settlement states that a user's location is stored every time they use any Google-controlled features on their phone, including the Google Maps app, weather apps, and searches made with the phone's mobile browser.
Ryan Nakashima, a reporter for the AP, said, "For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are and some searches that have nothing to do with location, like 'chocolate chip cookies' or 'kids science kits,' pinpoint your precise latitute and longitude — accurate to the square foot — and save it to your Google account."
The settlement states that contrary to the simple process told in the Google support pages, in order to actually prevent location tracking, an individual must navigate to a "deeply buried and non-obvious setting titled, 'Web & App Activity.'" In wake of the AP report, Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey called for "comprehensive consumer privacy and data security legislation."
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia told AP that it is "frustratingly common" for technology companies "to have corporate practices that diverge wildly from the totally reasonable expectations of their users." Warner is in favor of policies that would give users more control of their data.
According to the investigation, Google continued to access and store geolocation information of people who turned off their location history, which the plaintiffs say violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act and California's Constitutional Right to Privacy. The compliant, which was filed in March, says that the agreement requires Google to pay $62 million into a "non-revisionary cash fund" that will be used by up to 21 nonprofit organizations for support and defense of the class members' privacy rights.
The fund will also cover $18.6 million in plaintiff attorney fees, unreimbursed expenses of $151,756.23 and awards of $5,000 for each of the three settlement class representatives.
According to KRON4, the settlement states that Google published a support page on how to manage and delete a user's location history, which stated, "When you turn off location history for your Google account, it's off for all devices associated with that Google account." Despite stating that, the settlement claims that, "Google's representation was false."
The class action lawsuit comes amid an investigation by the Associated Press (AP), which initially exposed Google for tracking down user information without consent, even if they used a privacy setting that says it will prevent Google from doing so; the settlement also states this information.
According to AP's investigation, whose findings were confirmed by researchers at Princeton University, storing your minute-by-minute travel carries privacy risks. Google says that it will prevent the company from remembering where you have been, with its support page on the subject saying, "You can turn off Location History at any time. With Location History off, the places you go are no longer stored."
The investigation revealed that this is not true and that when turning off "Location History" only stopped Google from creating a location timeline that the user could view. According to the settlement, Google, however, still continued to track the phone owners and kept a record of their locations.
Even when "Location History" is turned off, the settlement states that a user's location is stored every time they use any Google-controlled features on their phone, including the Google Maps app, weather apps, and searches made with the phone's mobile browser.
Ryan Nakashima, a reporter for the AP, said, "For example, Google stores a snapshot of where you are when you merely open its Maps app. Automatic daily weather updates on Android phones pinpoint roughly where you are and some searches that have nothing to do with location, like 'chocolate chip cookies' or 'kids science kits,' pinpoint your precise latitute and longitude — accurate to the square foot — and save it to your Google account."
The settlement states that contrary to the simple process told in the Google support pages, in order to actually prevent location tracking, an individual must navigate to a "deeply buried and non-obvious setting titled, 'Web & App Activity.'" In wake of the AP report, Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey called for "comprehensive consumer privacy and data security legislation."
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia told AP that it is "frustratingly common" for technology companies "to have corporate practices that diverge wildly from the totally reasonable expectations of their users." Warner is in favor of policies that would give users more control of their data.
According to the investigation, Google continued to access and store geolocation information of people who turned off their location history, which the plaintiffs say violates the California Invasion of Privacy Act and California's Constitutional Right to Privacy. The compliant, which was filed in March, says that the agreement requires Google to pay $62 million into a "non-revisionary cash fund" that will be used by up to 21 nonprofit organizations for support and defense of the class members' privacy rights.
The fund will also cover $18.6 million in plaintiff attorney fees, unreimbursed expenses of $151,756.23 and awards of $5,000 for each of the three settlement class representatives.
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