State to receive $20M in Google settlement
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Indiana will receive a $20 million settlement following a lawsuit against Google involving deceptive location tracking practices.
Attorney General Todd Rokita filed an independent lawsuit against the company when negotiations between the company and a coalition of state attorneys general stalled.
Rokita says Indiana received about twice as much money as it would have received as part of the settlement that was later reached with the 40 states that did not file lawsuits against Google.
A 2018 story from the Associated Press brought light to the subject; Google’s deceptive practices became widely known, prompting a multi-state investigation into the company’s location tracking practices.
“This settlement is another manifestation of our steadfast commitment to protect Hoosiers from Big Tech’s intrusive schemes,” Rokita said. “We will continue holding these companies accountable for their improper manipulation of consumers.”
According to the lawsuit, Google has been deceiving and misleading users about its practices since at least 2014, using location data collected from Hoosiers to build detailed user profiles and target ads.
Rokita’s office says the lawsuit was “aggressively pursued” to protect a person’s identity, routines, and overall privacy.