Kentucky will receive $7.2M settlement from Google, Cameron announces. Here’s why
Kentucky will receive more than $7 million from Google as part of a larger $392 million settlement with 40 states over the tech company’s tracking of users’ location data.
Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced the news Monday, calling it the largest settlement of its kind in U.S. history.
Here’s what to know about the settlement, how it impacts Google’s handling of your data going forward and what could happen to the settlement money.
What are the terms of Google’s settlement?
The settlement includes several provisions that generally require Google to be more transparent with how it uses consumer data and what kind of information it collects from users.
Under the settlement, Google must do more of the following:
Show additional information to users whenever they turn a location-related account setting “on” or “off.”
Make key information about location tracking clearly visible.
Give users detailed information about the types of location data Google collects and how it’s used.
Kentucky will receive $7,282,184.49 from Google under the settlement, and you can read a copy of the settlement online.
What led up to Google’s settlement and payout?
Google agreed to the settlement with 40 states following an investigation into how it tracked users’ location data, the states’ attorneys general announced Monday, according to The Associated Press. At $391.5 million, it’s the largest multistate privacy settlement in the country’s history.
Their investigation was prompted by a 2018 Associated Press story, which found even if users opted out, Google continued to track their location data.
The tech giant uses location data to target users with ads, but storing such data carries privacy risks and has been used by police to track down suspects, AP reported.
In 2018, AP reported the privacy issue affected some 2 billion users of devices running on Google’s Android operating software and hundreds of millions of worldwide iPhone users who depend on Google’s maps and search services.
The states’ attorneys general contended Google had been misleading users for years, since at least 2014, according to AP.
That represents a violation of states’ privacy laws, which Cameron echoed in a statement Monday.
“Misleading customers about the collection and use of their personal location tracking information is a violation of Kentucky’s consumer protection laws,” Cameron said in a news release Monday. “This historic settlement allocates over $7.2 million to Kentucky and requires Google to adopt business practices that respect the privacy rights of their customers.”
Will Kentuckians get settlement payments from Google?
The terms of the settlement state that Kentucky can use the money for the following purposes:
Covering investigation and court costs, including attorneys’ fees and other expenses.
Deposited into the state’s consumer protection law enforcement fund, including future consumer protection and privacy enforcement, consumer education and remedies.
Other uses permitted by state law or at the sole discretion of the attorney general.
Asked if Kentuckians impacted by Google’s privacy breach can expect payments, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said officials were monitoring a pending class action suit out of California.
“At this point there has not been any settlement reached in the class action, so there is nothing for individual consumers to do at this time. We will continue to monitor that case, and will provide an update when it is available,” acting communication director Krista Buckel wrote in the emailed statement Monday.
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