Google is being sued for collecting location data on Android phones.
Angela Lang / CNET
Google was hit on Wednesday by a lawsuit filed by the Attorney General of Arizona, Mark Brnovich, alleging that the search giant had fooled its users into collecting location information from their phones.
The company generates most of its revenue from its massive advertising operations, backed up by personal information that Google collects when people use its products. However, users were “lulled into a false sense of security” because Google made users assume that they had turned off location data collection settings when they were still on, Brnovich wrote on Twitter.
“Google gathers detailed information about its users, including their physical locations, to attract users for advertising,” wrote Brnovich. “Often this happens without the consent or knowledge of the user.”
He said the state is trying to provide financial relief, but the amount is unclear. Brnovich’s office did not respond to a request for comment. The Washington Post reported earlier News of the lawsuit.
Today, we filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against Google for misleading and unfair practices that retrieve users’ location data that Google then uses for its lucrative advertising business.
– Mark Brnovich (@GeneralBrnovich) May 27, 2020
In a statement, Google defended its location data policies. “The Attorney General and the contingent fee attorneys filing this lawsuit appear to have misrepresented our services,” spokesman Jose Castaneda said. “We have always equipped our products with data protection functions and provided robust controls for location data. We look forward to correcting the record.”
The lawsuit comes two years after an investigation by the Associated Presswho examined Google’s location data practices on phones running Android, the company’s mobile operating system. The news agency reported that Google keeps track of people’s whereabouts even if you turn off a location history setting.
If this setting is stopped, the company will continue to track where you are going, but will not keep track of where you were in your Google Maps timeline, the report says. However, users can stop location tracking by turning off another setting called web and apps activity.
Brnovich’s lawsuit is just the latest setback that Google has received from government officials. In February, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas sued Google for allegedly violating federal laws protecting children’s privacy through its educational platforms. The lawsuit has been accused of collecting information about students’ locations, their passwords, and the websites they visit.
Google is also under investigation by a coalition of attorneys general under the leadership of Texas AG Ken Paxton, which is investigating the company’s dominance in online advertising. The group is According to reports Preparing for a fall submission.