Google Pays IDR 590 Billion to Settle Lawsuit in Washington Over Location Tracking Practices

Google is considered a violation of user privacy. (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - Google will pay the state of Washington USD 39.9 million (IDR 590 billion) to settle a lawsuit that accuses an Alphabet Inc unit of misleading consumers about its location tracking practices. This was disclosed by state Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Thursday, May 18.

This settlement resolves claims that Google has deceived people into believing they have control over how these search and advertising companies collect and use their personal data.

In fact, the state says that Google can collect and profit from the data, even if consumers disable tracking technologies on their phones and computers, which is a violation of consumer privacy.

In a consent decree filed Wednesday, May 17 in King County Superior Court, Google is required to be more transparent about their tracking practices, and provide a more detailed "Location Technology" web page to explain the practice.

"Today's resolution makes one of the most powerful companies accountable for unethical and unlawful tactics," Ferguson said in a statement.

Google, based in Mountain View, California, has denied wrongdoing in the settlement agreement.

In November, Google agreed to pay $391.5 million to settle similar allegations by 40 states in the United States.

Several states including Washington have chosen to independently sue Google over their tracking practices. Arizona reached an $85 million settlement with Google last October in one of those cases.

In response to the settlement in Washington, Google referred to its previous statements about the multi-country deal, where it said it had addressed various concerns raised by regulators, including "the outdated product policy that we changed a few years ago."