As a result of a multistate lawsuit settlement, Massachusetts will receive more than $357,000 from Google Incorporated, Mass. Attorney Gen. Martha Coakley announced Monday.
The suit, led by Maryland Attorney Gen. Douglas Gansler along with the attorney generals of 36 other states and the District of Columbia, accused Google of illegally circumventing data collection policies for the Safari web browser, which is operated by Apple Incorporated, without user consent. In total, Google agreed to pay $17 million to the accusing states as a part of the settlement.
Lawrence Friedman, professor at the New England School of Law, said regardless of whether or not Google was at fault, the settlement could have long-standing effects on internet-based businesses similar to Google.
“As far as the amount of the fine for something the size of Google, it’s really just a slap on the wrist,” he said. “On the other hand, it’s not nothing. It’s still $17 million. Additionally, the fine does stand as a deterrent to other companies that might be accused of doing the same thing.”
Allegations from the suit regard Google’s policy changes for placing third-party cookies in the browsers of Safari users. Cookies are small files that track and collect user’s browsing habits so advertising can be tailored to individuals.
It was alleged that from June 2011 to February 2012 Google went around Safari’s default settings that would have blocked cookies and placed them anyway without alerting users.
Coakley joined the case in an effort to guarantee the right to consent for Internet users.
“Consumers have the right to make informed decisions with respect to their privacy online, and those choices should be respected,” she said in a Monday release. “As a result of this settlement, consumers will be able to exercise more meaningful control over how Google sends advertisements to them while online.”
In addition to the financial settlement, which will be managed by Coakley’s office in Massachusetts, Google agreed to be legally required to change its cookie policies in several ways. It must ensure the deletion of cookies gathered illegally through Safari, better represent what data it collects and refrain from circumventing a browser’s default cookie-blocking settings except when addressing security problems.
“We work hard to get privacy right at Google and have taken steps to remove the ad cookies, which collected no personal information, from Apple’s browsers,” said Nadja Blagjevic, a Google spokeswoman, in an email Wednesday. “We’re pleased to have worked with the state attorneys general to reach this agreement.”
Even with the promises from Google, Friedman stressed that the fault in Internet data availability lies with the user, not necessarily with any particular service.
“Privacy is a slippery thing,” he said. “We all think we have it for ourselves and that the problems only happen to someone else, but just for one example, look at how many people have joined Facebook. They have willingly given them [Facebook] open access to all kinds of very personal information … it’s really weird that people don’t seem to be that concerned about it.”
Several residents said they were wary of what personal data is collected online.
“I never really feel safe because I know my personal information can be taken very easily on the Internet,” said Ashley Davega, 27, of Boston. “It [the settlement] doesn’t change anything either. They [Google] don’t have to change. They have money and lots of ways to get around passwords and protections.”
Rebecca O’Brien, 29, a pediatrician living in Back Bay, was more optimistic about Internet security.
“Personally, I’ve never had any problems, so I do assume what I’ve put out there is safe,” she said. “It’s very important that people are aware of what companies are collecting … but as long as that’s the case, there shouldn’t be any problem.”
Anthony Stokes, 24, of Boston, said he rarely uses the Internet at all anymore due to safety concerns.
“I’ve had my identity stolen three times online, so there’s proof it’s not safe,” he said. “Many companies take information without asking, and that really violates everyone’s privacy. And it’s really not okay … but in the end, it’s on you. They can’t take what you don’t put on there for people to see.”
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