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Google will pay nearly $400 million in location tracking settlement led by Oregon By Mike Rogoway | oregonlive.com (TNS) Updated: Nov 14, 2022 02:55 PM A A FILE - In this June 15, 2017 photo, people walk inside the Oculus in New York. Google has agreed to a $391.5 million settlement with 40 states in connection with an investigation into how the company tracked users’ locations. State attorneys general announced the settlement Monday, calling it the largest multistate privacy settlement in U.S history. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II, File) Google has agreed to pay $392 million to settle complaints from 40 states that it misled consumers about whether the Silicon Valley company was tracking their location. Oregon attorneys helped lead the agreement, which grew out of a 2018 Associated Press article that revealed Google tracked people’s whereabouts even when they checked online settings that instructed the company not to store that information. Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum said Monday’s agreement reflects a commitment to look out for consumers. “When it comes to location, we consider that to be absolutely one of the most important areas to protect them,” she said. Location data is especially sensitive, according to Rosenblum, because it can impact people’s safety. “We want to protect them, both physically and financially, when it comes to how they use technology,” she said. “Consistent with improvements we’ve made in recent years, we have settled this investigation which was based on outdated product policies that we changed years ago,” Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a written statement Monday. The company also posted a note to its website describing changes it has made to make location tracking less intrusive and more transparent. “Today’s settlement is another step along the path of giving more meaningful choices and minimizing data collection while providing more helpful services,” Google wrote. Thirty-nine other states joined Monday’s agreement, with talks led by Oregon and Nebraska. Three other states and the District of Columbia are pursuing a separate lawsuit over Google’s location tracking. Oregon collects $14.8 million as part of the agreement, money that will go into a state consumer protection fund. And Google has agreed to make its location tracking policies more transparent and to email people with Google accounts to ensure they understand they have the option to opt out of certain location tracking settings. “Google is able to still do some location tracking. The settlement limits some of the ways they can use location information,” said Kristen Hilton, deputy attorney general for consumer privacy. The Oregon Department of Justice is preparing a bill for the upcoming session that would require companies to obtain specific, “opt-in” permission from users before tracking their specific location. “The current state of the laws that we’re operating under do have limitations that we hope will be addressed by comprehensive privacy legislation,” Hilton said. The Associated Press article that triggered the investigation found that Google had incorrectly promised consumers that turning off their location history prevents the company from storing their whereabouts. The issue affects everyone who uses a Google Android phone as well as those using Google Maps on iPhones or other devices. Oregon’s Department of Justice took a leading role in the case because the state has several years of experience in pursuing online consumer protections, according to Rosenblum. “In the last few years it’s been clear that privacy and security, data security, are key,” she said.