Google To Pay Nearly $43M Over Collection of Android Location Data

Australia's consumer watchdog agency said Friday that Google has been ordered to pay AU$60 million, nearly $43 million, by the Federal Court over the collection of location data on Android phones. From a report: The fine stems from legal action the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission initiated back in 2019. The ACCC accused Google of "making misleading representations to consumers" about the collection and use of personal location data on Android devices between January 2017 and December 2018. The court previously found that Google misled consumers into thinking "Location History" was the only setting that impacted whether the tech giant collected, kept and used location data, when in fact, the "Web & App Activity" setting also allowed Google to collect some of this information, according to the ACCC. An estimated 1.3 million people with Google accounts in Australia may have "viewed a screen found by the Court to have breached the Australian Consumer Law," the ACCC said.

Re:

[jellomizer]

Because they sometimes win?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

messing with Google???

Because Google keeps doing illegal shit like collecting user location data without that user's permission and selling it to the highest bidder.

Re: Why do they keep....

[LindleyF]

Probably using it to drive features. I'll bet they didn't even realize it wasn't covered by the agreement. Cross-cutting settings are not Google's strong point.

Big win for the government probably

[systemd-anonymousd]

So who gets that money? The Australian watchdog agency?

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[jellomizer]

Sure won't be the Victims.

Re:

[systemd-anonymousd]

Maybe the ones that send back the form will get $0.25, less postage of course. I'm sure the lawyers still got paid, and a nice bonus on top. Plus the government will take its share of taxes from the winnings and the lawyers' income.

Pocket Change

[Anonymous Coward]

$43 Million is literally pocket change for Google. It's like you or I being fined 43 cents.

In US These Fines Are Rarely Paid to Victim

[BrendaEM]

In the United States victims who are awarded in class action suits usually receive useless crap and bottom Dollar funds from these kinds suits.

Re:

[Powercntrl]

This is Australia though, so the money will most likely be donated to the Dropbear Victims' Fund.

Has Google turned off the offending feature?

[schwit1]

$43M is for the past violation. What about going forward?

Re:

[VeryFluffyBunny]

$43M per day? Probably still not enough though. It's like try to stop a serial killer with fines.

In perspective

[Art Challenor]

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has a 3 year $240MM pay package (plus a measly $2M/year salary). As is clear to everyone this fine is pocket-change for Google. It's only worthy of note because every violation increases the pressure for regulator oversight and the possibility of violations that result in fines that actually hurt (some % of revenue and they might start to take notice).