ALERT SUMMARY: A lawsuit has been filed by several states claiming Google continued to track users despite these users disabling location tracking. The lawsuit claims that Google misled consumers into thinking that they can control access to their private data with their Google account and device settings.
Your online activity tracked along with your location gives Google oodles of information about you. This information could skew your online activity and results overtime that could impact you negatively like a smoker who wants to quit but gets bombarded with cigarette ads everyday just before leaving work.
Several news outlets reported on this lawsuit filed by Washington DC, Washington State, Indiana and Texas Attorney Generals over the alleged continuing collection of location data even when disabled by users.
Legal arguments assert that Google intentionally led users into believing that even after turning of location tracking functions, Google continued to collect this information and profiting from it. The lawsuit was filed after a 2018 Associated Press article reporting Google’s tactics included computer science researchers at Princeton confirmed findings.
The lawsuit includes several claims. The specific issue in the lawsuit says that between 2014 and 2019, users disabling the location tracking setting in their Google account or on their Android phone did not stop Google from collecting and storing users’ locations. Another issue is that Google failed to disclose that user’s web and app activity also included the collection of location data and is enabled by default. Also, that Google apps still tracks a user’s location even without permission. The final claim is that Google manipulates users into providing their location data by repeatedly asking users to enable location tracking for the app to work properly when that’s not the case.
Google has responded stating that they don’t do that anymore and would defend themselves to the fullest in any lawsuit.
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