AG Ferguson’s lawsuit forces Google to pay nearly $40M over deceptive location tracking

Attorney General Bob Ferguson today announced Google will pay $39.9 million to Washington state as a result of his office’s lawsuit over misleading location tracking practices. Google will also implement a slate of court-ordered reforms to increase transparency about its location tracking settings.

Ferguson’s lawsuit against Google asserted that the tech giant deceptively led consumers to believe that they have control over how Google collects and uses their location data. In reality, consumers could not effectively prevent Google from collecting, storing and profiting from their location data.

Ferguson investigated Google’s conduct as part of a multistate effort. Instead of joining a multistate settlement, Ferguson’s office independently filed its own lawsuit and obtained this resolution. The Attorney General’s Office estimates Washington received more than double the amount it would have received under the wider multistate settlement.

“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,” Ferguson said. “Today’s resolution holds one of the most powerful corporations accountable for its unethical and unlawful tactics.”

In addition to paying nearly $40 million, the legally binding consent decree, filed in King County Superior Court, requires Google to be more transparent with consumers about how it tracks and uses consumer data. Under this consent decree, Google must:Show additional information to users whenever they enable a location-related account setting by describing the sources, purposes and retention of relevant location data;

• Ensure users see information about location tracking; and
• Give users detailed information at an enhanced “Location Technologies” webpage about the types of location data Google collects and how it will use that data.

Ferguson investigated Google’s conduct as part of a multistate effort to hold it accountable for its location tracking practices in the wake of reports of the company’s misleading “Web and App Activity” setting. 

Ferguson’s office independently filed a lawsuit and obtained a resolution separate from a multistate legal action. As a result, the Attorney General’s Office estimates Washington received double the amount it would have received under the wider multistate settlement.

The Attorney General’s Office will use money from the resolution to continue enforcement of the Consumer Protection Act and take more actions to protect Washingtonians’ data privacy. The Consumer Protection Division receives minimal general fund support and largely funds itself through recoveries in cases like this.

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