Location tracking continues to face scrutiny after Google’s latest data privacy settlement

By Marty Swant

After a landmark privacy settlement between Google and dozens of states, some say location-tracking will continue facing scrutiny — and maybe more legal battles — as the industry comes increasingly under the microscope.

On Monday, Google and 40 state attorneys general announced a $392 million agreement — the tech giant’s largest legal payout to date — to various states while also requiring additional changes to its data-collection practices disclosures. The charges, led by Oregon and Nebraska, are based on alleged activity from 2014 through 2020 and include charges of recording users’ movements even when they tell apps not to. According to the complaint, Google misled consumers and broke consumer protection laws while profiting from the data.

Next year, Google will be required to add more disclosures about how users’ locations are being tracked and how it’s being used. Information that Google will be required to share includes the types of information collected, sources of the information, whether it’s a precise location, the extent to which users can prevent data from being a factor in personalized ads, and how to delete data if they want to.

In a statement about the settlement, Google said it already made changes to its platforms and that the case was based on “outdated product policies.” However, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said the settlement sends a “clear message that we will hold companies accountable.” And in Oregon, Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said data privacy remains a “top priority” for the state and that a task force will introduce a new bill in the 2023 legislative session to give consumers more control over their data.

“For years Google has prioritized profit over their users’ privacy,” Rosenblum said in a statement. “They have been crafty and deceptive. Consumers thought they had turned off their location tracking features on Google, but the company continued to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers.”

This isn’t the only location-related lawsuit Google has faced this year. Last month, it settled with Arizona, paying $85 million after the state charged it with deceptively obtaining users’ location data and profiting from it. Although Monday’s settlement is the highest amount Google has paid related to privacy allegations, the agreement amount is still less than Facebook paid in 2019 when it settled with the Federal Trade Commission for $5 billion over privacy charges related to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Beyond Google, other companies have faced location-related legal battles — including the Weather Channel and data broker Kochava — that also call into question how tracking location could affect advertisers.

Jason Sarfati, chief privacy officer of the location intelligence company Gravy Analytics, said a growing volume of sensitive data related to location and biometrics makes it even more important for regulators to update laws to address how both are collected. However, he said he doesn’t expect a new national privacy law to pass during the lame-duck Congress — and probably also not in the next two years — despite some earlier progress …read more

Source:: Digiday