Google Pays IDR 1.2 Trillion for Claims of Unauthorized Data Collection in Arizona

Google paid trillions of fines for tracking user locations without permission +photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Alphabet Inc. Google will pay Arizona $85 million to settle a 2020 lawsuit the state brought against it.

If you have to flashback, in 2020, the Washington Post reported that Arizona had sued Google over claims that they were illegally collecting location data from users without their permission.

State Attorney General Mark Brnovich argued that Google continues to track location running in the background for mapping, weather and other apps, along with search, even if users turn off location sharing.

According to Brnovich, presented by Bloomberg via Engadget, the $85 million settlement is the largest amount Google has paid per user in a privacy lawsuit like this.

But, given Google's quarterly revenue of $69 billion, it doesn't seem like what Arizona is asking for.

In a statement, Google spokesman José Castaneda said the lawsuit relates to an old product policy that has been changed.

"We provide direct control and auto-delete options for location data, and are always working to minimize the data we collect," he said. "We are pleased that this issue has been resolved and will continue to focus our attention on providing useful products to our users."

If this case sounds familiar, it's because Google has also been sued by attorneys general in Texas, Washington, DC, and Indiana over similar data tracking complaints.