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Google to pay $391.5 million to settle ‘location tracking’ probe, after paying $85 million to Arizona for the same

Alphabet’s Google, the tech behemoth, has agreed to pay $391.5 million to settle claims made by 40 US states that the company improperly tracks the whereabouts of its users.

The announcement was made by the Michigan Attorney General on Monday (November 14).

Oregon and Nebraska led the investigation and settlement against the tech giant, demonstrating that the company is rapidly expanding its customer monitoring practises.

In addition to paying nearly $321 million in settlement, according to Reuters, the lowa attorney general has also asked the firm to be more transparent with users by providing comprehensive information about the location-tracking data on a secure and dedicated page and to be more upfront with customers about when the tracking occurs.

The attorney general said, ‘When consumers make the decision to not share location data on their devices, they should be able to trust that a company will no longer track their every move.’

A customer location is a marketer’s breakthrough for assisting an advertiser in displaying more relevant ads and capturing consumers’ attention. Through advertising, the companies generated over $111 billion in the first half of this year.

Arizona filed a similar case against Google, which was settled by the company paying $85 million last month.

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