RI Was Not One of the 40 States Who Just Reached a $400M Settlement With Google
GoLocalProv Business Team
RI Was Not One of the 40 States Who Just Reached a $400M Settlement With Google
One of the states that is not part of the settlement is Rhode Island.
Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office said the decision not to join the settlement was made by his predecessor.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“When this multi-state initiative commenced in 2018, the prior administration [former Attorney General Peter Kilmartin] did not join it. In addition to closely following the progress of the multi-state during this administration, we are pursuing our own remedy against Google for this conduct. This settlement with other states will certainly aid in our own efforts, and we expect to be in a position to share additional information soon,” said Brian Hodge, Director of Communications for Neronha.
But, it does not appear that Rhode Island has taken any legal action. Neronha's office would not respond
As outlined in the settlement, Google misled its users into thinking they had turned off location tracking in their account settings, when, in fact, Google continued to collect their location information. In addition to the multimillion-dollar settlement, as part of the negotiations with the AGs, Google has agreed to significantly improve its location tracking disclosures and user controls starting in 2023.
“For years Google has prioritized profit over their users’ privacy,” said Attorney General Rosenblum. “They have been crafty and deceptive. Consumers thought they had turned off their location tracking features on Google, but the company continued to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers.”
Location data is a key part of Google’s digital advertising business. Google uses the personal and behavioral data it collects to build detailed user profiles and target ads. In fact, location data is among the most sensitive and valuable personal information Google collects. Even a limited amount of location data can expose a person’s identity and routines and can be used to infer personal details.
The attorneys general opened the Google investigation following a 2018 Associated Press article that revealed Google “records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to.” The article focused on two Google account settings: Location History and Web & App Activity. Location History is “off” unless a user turns on the setting, but Web & App Activity, a separate account setting, is automatically “on” when users set up a Google account, including all Android users.
“Consumer privacy is one of my office’s top priorities. That’s why it’s so important to me that Oregon played a key role in this settlement. Until we have comprehensive privacy laws, companies will continue to compile large amounts of our personal data for marketing purposes with few controls,” continued AG Rosenblum.