Three U.S. states are suing Google for questionable location data collection

Prosecutors from Washington, Texas and Indiana, as well as the capital Washington, have filed a lawsuit against Google for allegedly unfair location data collection. The documents accuse the American company of deliberately misleading (or misleading) users when setting rights on Android and specific applications. “It systematically deceives consumers about how their location is tracked, ”mentions the lawsuit, which also criticizes the“ almost impossible ”disabling of user tracking.

The main problem reportedly is that Google presents location tracking as an optional option that can be turned off in settings, even if it isn’t. “Google falsely believes that changing their account and device settings will help protect their privacy and control what personal information the company may access. The truth is Contrary to statements, Google continues to systematically monitor customers and benefits from the data, ”comments Karl A. Racine, a Washington DC prosecutor and plaintiff.

Another object of objection is to find that Google falsely claimed to users that if location services were applications would not work properly, even if it was not. Objections are also raised against various manipulative design elements and practices that are supposed to force users to accept the required settings. Prosecutors even want a technology giant he returned the money he earned through these practices.

Google has already responded to the lawsuit with its first statement. The Attorney General is basing the case on inaccurate and outdated claims about our settings. We have always built privacy features into our products and provided robust controls for location data. We will strongly defend and we will put things right, ”the company argues through its spokesperson.

What do you think about location tracking?

Source: pharena