Delaware and 39 other states reach a $391.5 million settlement with Google over its location tracking practices. That figure marks the largest multistate privacy settlement in U.S. history.
The multistate lawsuit centered on Google’s use of location data for digital advertising. The search engine company collects users’ personal and behavioral data to build targeted ads for its advertising customers, including users’ location data, which can be used to expose a person’s identity and movements.
Attorneys General from more than three dozen states started investigating Google in 2018 after the Associated Press reported Google ignored users’ requests to not track their location in their account settings. According to the settlement, Google violated state consumer protection laws by misleading customers about its location tracking practices starting at least in 2014.
The settlement requires Google to be more transparent about its data tracking practices, including providing users key information about how it records location data and uses that data. The settlement also limits Google’s ability to use and store some types of location data.
Delaware will receive $4.3 million from the settlement.
