Texas, Indiana, Washington State And Washington DC, Sue Google For Tracking Users Without Their Permission

On Monday, Texas, Indiana, Washington State and Washington DC sued Google. The three states and DC in separate lawsuits alleged that the company tracked its users without their permission.

The four attorney generals claim that Google, at least from the period of 2014 to 2019, deceived users of android phones, Google maps and Google search engine.

The lawsuits claim that although users perceived they had the ability to "turn off" their location history and deny Google the permission to track them, in reality Google kept tracking their location.

“Consumers who use Google products cannot prevent Google from collecting, storing, and profiting from their location," states DC’s complaint.

The company's business model is rooted in targeted advertising, it uses the location data of its users to lure advertisers. Advertisers may benefit from having access to all that information and find out how effective their campaigns are at driving foot traffic for example.

According to DC attorney general Karl Racine's office, the company's business model is reliant on "constant surveillance of its users". The DC suit further asserts that location data is an essential part of Google's digital advertising business which generated a revenue of $150 billion in 2020.

Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda, in response, claimed that “the attorney generals are bringing a case based on inaccurate claims and outdated assertions about our settings."

Racine's office has stated that they began their investigation after a 2018 story published by the Associated Press claimed that the company tracks the location of its users even after being told explicitly not to. These findings were confirmed by computer science researchers at Princeton University.

These lawsuits are the latest in a mounting number of challenges for Google and other BigTech companies in the US, who have been under significant scrutiny with numerous congressional hearings and legislations targeted at them.