Wash. AG Settles Location-Tracking Allegations vs. Google for $39.9M
Google will pay $39.9 million, plus 12% post-judgment interest per annum, to settle allegations it duped Washington state consumers about its location-tracking purposes, Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson (D) announced Thursday. The AG’s office will use money from the resolution to continue enforcement of the state’s Consumer Protection Act (CPA) he said.
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Google denied Washington consumers “the ability to choose whether the company could track their sensitive location data, deceived them about their privacy options, and profited from that conduct,” said Ferguson in a statement. The consent decree (docket 22-2-01103-3 SEA) his office co-signed with Google's counsel “holds one of the most powerful corporations accountable for its unethical and unlawful tactics,” he said. Google didn't comment Thursday.
The consent decree resolves allegations Ferguson’s office filed in a complaint against Google in January 2022 in Washington Superior Court for King County in Seattle. Google’s use of deceptive and unfair practices to obtain valuable consumer location data violated the CPA, said the complaint.
Google waives any right it may have to appeal the settlement or to otherwise contest its validity, said the consent decree. Google doesn’t concede that violation of the consent decree “constitutes a violation" of the CPA, it said. The consent decree “or the fact of its entry” doesn’t constitute evidence or an admission by Google of the “violation of any law alleged by Washington,” it said. “To the contrary,” Google “continues to deny any and all wrongdoing of any kind whatsoever,” it said. Google “retains, and does not waive, any and all defenses” it may have “with respect to such matters,” it said.
Google must issue a pop-up notification to users who have location history or web and app activity enabled at the time of the notification, said the consent decree. The pop-ups will disclose whether the users’ settings collect location information, and will instruct users “how to disable each setting, delete the data collected by the settings, and set data retention limits,” it said.
The $39.9 million that Google owes Washington for costs and reasonable attorney’s fees will be payable within 60 days by wire transfer, said the consent decree. Its failure to timely make payments as required, without Washington’s written agreement, “shall be a material breach” of the settlement agreement, it said.