Google to pay record $391m privacy settlement

Google volition wage $391.5m (£330m) to settee allegations astir however it collects information from users.

The exertion elephantine tracked the determination of users who opted retired of determination services connected their devices, 40 US states said.

Google has been told to beryllium transparent astir determination tracking successful the aboriginal and make a web leafage telling radical astir the information it collects.

It is the largest privacy-related multi-state colony successful US history.

A Google authoritative said: "Consistent with improvements we've made successful caller years, we person settled this investigation, which was based connected outdated merchandise policies that we changed years ago."

Last month, Google agreed to wage Arizona $85m implicit akin issues concerning however it collects determination data.

There remains 1 outstanding lawsuit connected the taxable successful the US courts, aft Texas, Indiana, Washington and the District of Columbia took ineligible enactment against Google successful January.

Knowing a user's determination helps advertisers people products.

And determination services assistance Google make $200bn successful yearly advertizing revenue.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who led the lawsuit - alongside Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson - said: "For years Google has prioritised nett implicit its users' privacy.

"It has been crafty and deceptive.

"Consumers thought they had turned disconnected their location-tracking features connected Google - but the institution continued to secretly grounds their movements and usage that accusation for advertisers."

The attorneys wide said Google had been misleading consumers astir determination tracking since astatine slightest 2014, breaking authorities consumer-protection laws.

The institution has been told to importantly amended idiosyncratic controls and the mode it discloses determination tracking, starting from 2023.