Google Approves IDR 2.3 Trillion Payment To Resolve Privacy Violation Claims

Google has agreed to pay 155 million US dollars (Rp 2.3 trillion) to settle demands from the California government (photo: ary/voi.id)

JAKARTA - Google has agreed to pay 155 million US dollars (Rp 2.3 trillion) to settle demands from the California government and private parties claiming that these search engine companies have misled consumers about how they track user locations and use their data without permission.

These two settlements end demands that Alphabet Inc's unit has deceived people by making them believe they still have control over how Google collects and uses their personal data.

The company is accused of being able to "make profiles" of people and target them with ads even if they turn off their "History Location" settings, as well as mislead people about their ability to block unwanted ads.

"Google tells its users one thing - that they will no longer track their location after they choose to leave - but do otherwise and continue to track user movements for their own commercial gain," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. "That is unacceptable."

Settlement in California requires Google to pay $93 million, as well as reveal more about how they track user locations and use the data they collect.

Uang dari penyelesaian senilai 62 juta dolar AS (Rp951,6 miliar) dengan pihak swasta, setelah dikurangan biaya hukum, akan diberikan kepada kelompok nirlaba yang telah disetujui oleh pengadilan yang memantau masalah privasi internet.

Lawyers for the demanding party say that this makes sense because it "impossible" distributes money to about 247.7 million United States adults who own mobile devices.

Some critics say that this type of settlement, known as the "cy pres," provides little benefit to class members who file charges.

Google denies responsibility, and these two settlements require court approval.

In November last year, Google agreed to pay $391.5 million to settle similar demands by 40 US states.

The Mountain View, California-based company has also reached a settlement of US$124.9 million (Rp1.9 trillion) with Arizona and Washington.

A Google spokesperson on Friday, September 16 referred to a blog post discussing the multi-state settlement, and said it was related to "the expired product policy we changed years ago." Lawyers for the private sector did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the media.