Arizona AG sues Google over user location data News
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Arizona AG sues Google over user location data

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a lawsuit against Google on Wednesday for deceptively and unfairly obtaining users’ location information to advance its lucrative advertising business.

The complaint provided detailed examples of Google’s “seemingly relentless drive to collect as much user location information as possible and make it exceedingly hard for users to understand what is going on with their location information, let alone opt-out of this morass.” The complaint also alleges that Google misleads and deceives its users through its location history and web activity settings, uses consumers’ location history without the requisite permission and changes consumers’ permission statuses without notification.

Brnovich stated:

while Google users are led to believe they can opt-put of location tracking, the company exploits other avenues to invade personal privacy. It’s nearly impossible to stop Google from tracking your movements without your knowledge or consent. This is contrary to the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and even the most innovative companies must operate within the law.

Brnovich asked the court to order Google to pay restitution to consumers, to pay an Arizona civil penalty not exceeding $10,000 for each willful violation of the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and to enter an injunction against Google, which would prohibit the company from continuing to unlawfully obtain users’ location information.