Google has agreed to pay $93 million to the state of California to resolve allegations that it tracked users' locations without their knowledge. Under the terms of the proposed agreement, Google would also have to provide more information about the user location data it collects.
A "multi-year" investigation by the California Department of Justice found that Google deceived users into thinking they were not being tracked when in fact they were. According to the complaint, Google continues to collect and store users' location data even if they disable Location History settings in Google apps and services, allowing the company to use the information for targeted advertising.
Google spokesman José Castañeda said the charges were "based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago." California now requires Google to disclose that the user location data they collect may be used for ad personalization, provide more transparency about location tracking, and provide detailed information on its website about the data it collects.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement: "Our investigation shows that Google made it clear to users that once they opted out, Google would no longer track their location - but instead did the opposite and continued to track users' movements for its own business interests."
California is one of many states suing Google over its location tracking capabilities. After paying $85 million to settle a location-tracking lawsuit in Arizona last year, Google paid an additional $392 million to resolve similar lawsuits in 40 states, including Oregon, New York and Florida.