Attorney General ('AG') Karl A. Racine announced, on 24 January 2022, that he had filed a lawsuit against Google LLC for deceptively leading consumers to believe that they have control over how their location data is collected and used by Google. In particular, the AG stated that there is effectively no way for consumers to prevent Google from collecting, storing, and profiting from their location data, even if the location history setting is turned off. Moreover, the AG detailed that Google's deceptive location tracking practices impact users of smartphones running on the company's Android operating system, but they also extend to consumers who use any of the Google products. More specifica
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District of Columbia: AG files lawsuit against Google for secretly tracking consumers' location
January 25, 2022
Summary
On 24 January 2022, Attorney General Karl A. Racine filed a lawsuit against Google LLC, accusing the company of misleading consumers into believing they could control their location data, when in fact Google allegedly makes it impossible to opt out of location tracking. The lawsuit claims Google's practices affect not only Android smartphone users but also consumers using any Google products, by deceiving them about privacy protections through account and device settings.