Google Accused of Privacy Settings Violation; Pays $22.5 Million Settlement

Members of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted to allow Google to settle the agency’s investigation for $22.5 million. Google was accused of bypassing privacy settings of customers who used the Safari browser. Sources say that Google used cookies to track website behavior of Safari browser users without such users’ consent and who had blocked such tracking. Google stated that the tracking was inadvertent and that no personal information was collected in the process. A Google spokeswoman has said that Google has taken steps to remove ad cookies from Apple’s browsers.

However, tracking was performed despite assurances that Safari could be set to protect users’ privacy. Google had further signed a consent decree about a year ago saying that they would not misrepresent its privacy policies.

Google also faces potential sanctions by the European Union, which has adopted stricter privacy laws than the United States.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/31/net-us-google-ftc-penalty-idUSBRE86U1FD20120731

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