Google to pay $392m settlement in US breech of privacy case

Google has agreed to pay a $391.5m in settlement to 40 states in the USA after accepting responsibility of tracking users’ location without their consent.

The case, described as the largest US privacy settlement ever, makes a win for consumers after an investigation found the tech company guilty of charges.

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According to the Attorney, citing evidence put forward against Google, the states’ investigation was sparked by a 2018 Associated Press story, which found that Google continued to track people’s location data even after they opted out of such tracking by disabling a feature the company called “location history”.

The settlement becomes the largest multi-state settlement in US history dealing with privacy.

Big data companies, in recent years, especially social media companies (such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) have been in and out of court for multiple privacy charges.

Analysts note that the win against Google may lead to reinforced investigations of others.

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