DC, Texas, Washington, Indiana Sue Google For 'Deceiving' Consumers About Location Data

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 24th January, 2022) Attorneys general from the District of Columbia, Texas, Washington and Indiana announced on Monday that they are suing Google over what they call a long-established policy of deceiving consumers to obtain access to their location data.

"Google has relied on, and continues to rely on, deceptive and unfair practices that make it difficult for users to decline location tracking or to evaluate the data collection and processing to which they are purportedly consenting. Such practices are known in academic literature as 'dark patterns.' Dark patterns are deceptive design choices that alter the user's decision-making for the designer's benefit and to the user's detriment," the lawsuit from DC says.

Washington, DC Attorney General Karl Racine, who is leading the lawsuit, said the team is seeking to stop Google's illegal use of "dark patterns".

"We're leading a bipartisan group of AGs from Texas, Indiana, & Washington, each suing in state court to hold Google accountable ... Google claims that changing your device and account settings protects your data. The truth is, since 2014, Google has systematically surveilled users no matter what settings they choose," he tweeted.

Tech giants like Facebook and Google have been repeatedly criticized by users and regulators in the past few years for lack of efforts to properly ensure user privacy and protect their personal data.