Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the state will get around $12 million from Google after settling with the company over its location tracking practices on Google Account settings.
According to the AG's office, Google settled with 40 states for a total of $391.5 million, and is the largest multistate Attorney General privacy settlement in U.S. history.
The attorneys general opened up an investigation after a 2018 Associated Press article revealed Google could record movements when you told it not to. That violated state consumer protection laws.
"Google makes the majority of its revenue from using the personal data of those who search in its browsers and use its apps," Nessel said in a statement "The company's online reach enables it to target consumers without the consumer's knowledge or permission. However, the transparency requirements of this settlement will ensure that Google not only makes users aware of how their location data is being used, but also how to change their account settings if they wish to disable location-related account settings, delete the data collected and set data retention limits."
The settlement also requires Google to be more transparent with consumers about its practices, including:
- Show additional information to users whenever they turn a location-related account setting “on” or “off”;
- Make key information about location tracking unavoidable for users (i.e., not hidden); and
- Give users detailed information about the types of location data Google collects and how it’s used at an enhanced “Location Technologies” webpage.
