Dive summary:
- Yesterday, Google agreed to pay the FTC a record $22.5 million fine to settle charges that it lied to its users about its privacy practices.
- The lawsuit stems from charges that Google installed cookies on users of Apple's Safari browser, after it had said that it would not. The settlement includes a provision that the company must bring its policies in line with the promises it originally made to users.
-
According to FTC chairman Jon Liebowitz, "The record setting penalty in this matter sends a clear message to all companies under an FTC privacy order. No matter how big or small, all companies must abide by FTC orders against them and keep their privacy promises to consumers, or they will end up paying many times what it would have cost to comply in the first place."
From the article:
Google has agreed to pay a $22.5m fine to settle charges that the company lied to users about the company's use of behavior-tracking cookies. The Federal Trade Commission said that the company would be paying a record fine over charges that users of the Apple Safari web browser were unknowingly served with cookies when visiting Google sites.
According to the FTC, Google misled customers when it said that it would not use behavior-tracking tools with Safari on its sites. As part of the settlement, the company will be required to bring its policies in line with the original promises made to users.
