{"id":10420,"date":"2022-01-25T12:37:54","date_gmt":"2022-01-25T12:37:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking"},"modified":"2022-01-25T15:57:22","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T15:57:22","slug":"four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking","title":{"rendered":"Four Attorneys General Sue Google For \u2018Deceptive\u2019 Location Tracking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. <\/strong><\/span>A bipartisan group of attorneys general sued Google on Monday, alleging that the technology giant has used \u201cdark patterns\u201d and deceptive practices to track users\u2019 physical location even when those users have made efforts to block Google from doing so.<\/p>\n

The parallel lawsuits by the District of Columbia, Texas, Indiana and Washington state zero in on Google\u2019s collection of location data, which can be used to target advertising and build profiles on internet users.<\/p>\n

The DC Attorney General\u2019s lawsuit alleges that since 2014, Google (GOOG) has made misleading public statements about how users can opt out of location tracking.<\/p>\n

Despite offering settings in users\u2019 Google accounts that promised to restrict location data tracking, Google allegedly failed to mention how certain other settings \u2014 such as in individual apps or in other areas of Google\u2019s settings panel \u2014 might continue to allow the tech giant to keep collecting location data unbeknownst to the user.<\/p>\n

According to the complaint, Google also allegedly tried to circumvent users\u2019 expressed preferences with workarounds, such as using IP addresses to determine a user\u2019s location or collecting location data via Google\u2019s apps installed on mobile devices. The allegedly illegal behavior affects virtually all mobile users who interact with Google, according to the complaint, whether they own an Android device, an iPhone, a PC or a tablet.<\/p>\n

To facilitate its data collection, Google allegedly relied on \u201cdark patterns\u201d \u2014 subtle design choices intended to guide users toward adopting behavior favorable to Google.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoogle makes extensive use of dark patterns,\u201d the complaint reads, \u201cincluding repeated nudging, misleading pressure tactics, and evasive and deceptive descriptions of location features and settings, to cause users to provide more and more location data (inadvertently or out of frustration).<\/p>\n

In a statement Monday, Google spokesman Jos\u00e9 Casta\u00f1eda said the lawsuits were based on \u201cinaccurate claims and outdated assertions about our settings.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have always built privacy features into our products and provided robust controls for location data,\u201d Casta\u00f1eda said. \u201cWe will vigorously defend ourselves and set the record straight.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2019, Google launched a feature that would, if enabled, automatically delete account activity data after a certain period of time.<\/p>\n

The following year, Google said it would expand that feature by enabling it by default for all new accounts created on its platform. Monday\u2019s lawsuits, however, target Google conduct that predates those changes.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, a state judge in Arizona declined to issue summary judgement in a similar case brought by Arizona officials against Google, saying that it was not an \u201cobvious and straightforward\u201d conclusion that Google misled or deceived consumers.<\/p>\n

The lawsuit seeks an injunction blocking Google\u2019s allegedly illegal conduct and disgorgement of profits linked to the allegedly misleading practices.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Namibia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Namibia. A bipartisan group of attorneys general sued Google on Monday, alleging that the technology giant has used \u201cdark patterns\u201d and deceptive practices to track users\u2019 physical location even when those users have made efforts to block Google from doing so. The parallel lawsuits by the District of Columbia, Texas, Indiana and Washington […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":10419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,9,16],"tags":[234,236,233],"class_list":["post-10420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-miscellaneous","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-namibia","tag-namibia"],"yoast_head":"\nFour Attorneys General Sue Google For \u2018Deceptive\u2019 Location Tracking - Namibia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A bipartisan group of attorneys general sued Google on Monday, alleging that the technology giant has used \u201cdark pattern ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four Attorneys General Sue Google For \u2018Deceptive\u2019 Location Tracking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A bipartisan group of attorneys general sued Google on Monday, alleging that the technology giant has used \u201cdark pattern ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Namibia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-01-25T12:37:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-25T15:57:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/01\/img-61f01dcb4cec6.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Four Attorneys General Sue Google For \u2018Deceptive\u2019 Location Tracking\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-25T12:37:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-25T15:57:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking\"},\"wordCount\":473,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/nambia\/sites\/29\/2022\/01\/img-61f01dcb4cec6.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"africa press\",\"Africa Press-Namibia\",\"namibia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"miscellaneous\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/namibia\/all-news\/four-attorneys-general-sue-google-for-deceptive-location-tracking\",\"name\":\"Four Attorneys General Sue Google For \u2018Deceptive\u2019 Location Tracking - 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