Republican attorneys general are intervening in a class action lawsuit against Google following the company’s agreement to settle accusations of improper data tracking.
The AGs contend that Google is allocating significant settlement funds to entities such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the involved lawyers, rather than compensating the affected individuals.
A group of 20 AGs stated in an amicus brief that the $62 million settlement resulted from a data privacy lawsuit over Google’s tracking of 247.7 million mobile device users’ location data. According to the brief, the settlement provides no damages to the class members, with most of the funds going to third-party recipients not involved in the litigation.
The lawsuit accused Google of collecting user information without consent, even when privacy settings were enabled to prevent such tracking. The settlement highlighted that Google’s published instructions claimed turning off location history would stop data collection across all devices linked to a user’s account. However, an Associated Press investigation revealed that turning off “Location History” only stopped the creation of a visible timeline, with Google continuing to track and store location data through other means, such as Google Maps and mobile browser searches.
The AGs, led by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, argued in their brief that many of the approved third-party recipients lack a substantial connection to the interests of the affected users. The recipients include the ACLU, Free Press, and The Information Society Project at Yale.
The brief criticized these groups as unsuitable stand-ins for the victims, stating they engage in political activities unrelated to privacy and technology. The signatories of the brief include attorneys general from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Virginia.
Neither Google nor the aforementioned organizations immediately responded to requests for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.