Indiana's Attorney General Todd Rokita announced on Friday that a $20 million settlement with tech giant Google had been reached. Indiana had been pursuing a lawsuit against Google for “deceptive location tracking practices.”  Google's location tracking practices first came to light in 2018 when the Associated Press reported that Google would continue tracking a user's location even after the feature was turned off in settings. 

According to court documents, Google uses location data collected from Indiana consumers to build detailed user profiles and target advertisements, but has misled users about its practices since at least 2014. Attorney General Rokita's office says they aggressively pursued litigation against Google because even a limited amount of location data can expose a person's identity and routines. Such data can be used to infer personal details such as political or religious affiliation, income, health status or participation in support groups — as well as major life events such as marriage and the birth of children. Following the 2018 AP report, many U.S. states passed sweeping consumer privacy laws that help fill the gap left by federal laws. While many states entered into a coalition against Google, Indiana filed a separate and independent lawsuit. As a result, Indiana received approximately twice as much money as it would have received as part of the settlement that was later reached with other states. “This settlement is another manifestation of our steadfast commitment to protect Hoosiers from Big Tech's intrusive schemes,” AG Rokita said. “We will continue holding these companies accountable for their improper manipulation of consumers.”