In November, Google reached a $392 million settlement agreement with 40 US states regarding location tracking. Later that same month, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined Meta $275 million for breaking the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). These hefty fines are the latest in a series of regulatory actions against tech giants, shining a brighter light on data security and its future.
Google’s settlement in the US relates to allegations that the company continued to track consumers through their devices despite location tracking being turned off. A group of 40 US Attorneys General collaborated to carry out the investigation, leading to the largest-ever privacy settlement in the country.
The settlement was led by Oregon AG Ellen Rosenblum and Nebraska AG Doug Peterson. Alexandra Vesalga, a privacy attorney and founder of consulting firm AV Privacy, points out that this kind of collaboration is likely to be a trend going forward
“We will likely continue to see regulators collaborating on larger enforcements. We saw this earlier this year when the UK and Australia’s privacy enforcement bodies worked together on an investigation and enforcement against Clearview AI. Like everyone, regulators are tight on resources, and combined enforcements give them more resources and stronger bargaining power,” Vesalga says.
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