Arizona takes Google to court over location tracking
On Wednesday, the U.S. state of Arizona filed a lawsuit accusing Google of committing fraud by being deceptive about collecting location data.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said the action was the result of an investigation that was initiated two years ago after a media story that Google had ways to know where the users were even though they decided not to share location details with the internet company.
“While Google users are led to believe they can opt-out of location tracking, the company exploits other avenues to invade personal privacy,” Brnovich said in a release.
“It’s nearly impossible to stop Google from tracking your movements without your knowledge or consent.”
The complaint charges Google with breaching Arizona’s fraud law and calls on the corporation to share money from its operations in that state.
“The attorney general and the contingency fee lawyers filing this lawsuit appear to have mischaracterized our services,” Google spokesman Jose Castaneda said in response to a question by the AFP.
“We have always built privacy features into our products and provided robust controls for location data.”
He added that Google is aiming to “set the record straight.”
While Google provides users with the option of declining to share location information while using its Google-made Android software-powered services or smartphones, it may glean from app or online activity where users are targeting ads, the suit said.
