[ad_1]
Large companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft just cannot stay out of trouble with the government. Google has just settled a lawsuit against it which claims that the company profited from using location tracking without its users’ consent. The company had to Shell out almost 40 million dollars to settle, according to Android Authority.
Asking large companies whose revenue depends largely on ads to stay out of trouble with the government is like asking a fish to walk on land. These companies do whatever they can to soak up as much revenue as possible. In the case of Google, that means a lot. In 2021, ad revenue made up about 80% of the company’s yearly income.
Google settled a large location tracking lawsuit
Security and privacy are some of the biggest topics in tech today. And, no one ever likes knowing that their location is being tracked by mega-corporations. This is what prompted Washington State to sue Google over its use of its users’ location data.
The state claims that Google tricked its users into thinking that they have control over their location data. Allegedly, even when users had their location permission turned off, Google was still able to access the location data. This means that the company was still able to profit from its users’ location even with a disabled.
That was a huge no-no for Washington State, and the State dragged Google into court. We’re not sure how much Washington State wanted, but Google did settle for $39.9 million. That’s, obviously, not much for the trillion-dollar company.
That’s not the only lawsuit that Google went through over this matter. Last year, Arizona State brought a lawsuit against Google for much the same thing only, Google settled for more than twice as much as the Washington lawsuit. The company had to Fork over $85 million.
Not only did Google have to pay, but the company will be required to be more transparent with how it’s using users’ data. So, Google will need to explain how it’s using your location data on its website. This could be a major win for users all around the world.
[ad_2]
Source link