Google was inwards the intelligence concluding calendar week for a misleading claim that "with Location History off, the places you lot become are no longer stored," which is non true.
Now, the search engine giant is i time once again inwards the intelligence afterwards a San Diego human has filed the get-go case against Google over this issue.
Last week, the Associated Press investigation revealed that the search engine giant tracks movements of millions of iPhone together with Android device users, fifty-fifty if they convey disabled the "Location History" setting to forbid it.
However, it turned out that to fully opt-out of having your location activities stored past times Google, you lot also convey to disable the 'Web together with App Activity' command every bit well, nearly which the companionship has mentioned deep into its production documentation.
In response to the AP investigation, Google defended itself past times saying, "there are a number of dissimilar ways that Google may work location to ameliorate people's experience," together with that "we supply clear descriptions of these tools, together with robust controls therefore people tin hand the axe plough them on or off, together with delete their histories at whatsoever time."
On Friday, the companionship fifty-fifty slightly changed its location policy, making it clear that fifty-fifty afterwards turning off the Location History option, about Google services would boot the bucket on collecting location information on you.
Previously, the back upwards page stated: "With Location History off, the places you lot become are no longer stored."However, the same hateful solar daytime Napoleon Patacsil from San Diego filed a case against Google inwards San Francisco federal courtroom for violating users’ privacy past times monitoring together with storing their movements.
Now the page states: "This setting does non touching other location services on your device," together with that "some location information may last saved every bit business office of your activity on other services, similar Search together with Maps."
The lawsuit, which could potentially touching millions of users, is seeking class-action condition on behalf of Android together with iPhone users inwards the United States, who had turned off Location History on their iPhones together with Android devices yet were withal tracked past times Google.
Patacsil alleges that Google is inwards violation of California's Invasion of Privacy Act together with constitutional correct to privacy past times tracking the location of users when they used a privacy setting on their device to forbid it, for which he is seeking unspecified damages.
"Google expressly represented to users of its operating arrangement together with apps that the activation of for sure settings volition forbid the tracking of users' geolocations. This representation was false," the case states.
"Despite users' attempts to protect their location privacy, Google collects together with stores users' location data, thereby invading users' reasonable expectations of privacy, counter to Google's ain representations nearly how users tin hand the axe configure Google's products to forbid such egregious privacy violations."
In add-on to damages, Patacsil also seeks a courtroom social club demanding that Google destroy all information stored from its geo-location tracking service of the plaintiff together with course of didactics members.
Patacsil said the company's "principal goal" was to "surreptitiously monitor" smartphone users together with allow 3rd parties to produce the same.
The human also claimed that Google illegally tracked him on his Android outcry together with and therefore on his iPhone, where he had downloaded about Google apps.
Besides the lawsuit, attorneys from the Electronic Privacy Information Center also wrote a three-page missive of the alphabet to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), proverb that Google's "deceptive merchandise practice" is inwards clear violation of the 2011 short town amongst the agency.
"Google is non permitted to rails users afterwards they convey made clear inwards their privacy settings that they don't desire to last tracked," the letter reads.In the FTC settlement, Google agreed to non misrepresenting its practices related to (1) the purposes for which it collects together with uses covered information, together with (2) the extent to which consumers may exercise command over the collection, use, or disclosure of covered information."
"The FTC's failure to enforce its Consent Orders places American consumers at risk. The Commission's inactions convey made the Internet less prophylactic together with less secure for users together with consumers."
Google has non yet responded nearly the filing of the lawsuit.
