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FTC Reaches Google Safari Privacy Settlement

By Sarah Pierce

 

SafariGoogleGoogle has agreed to pay a record $22.5 million fine to settle FTC contempt charges that it circumvented the privacy settings of Safari users and deceived users into believing it would not place tracking cookies or serve targeted ads, violating an earlier privacy settlement reached with the FTC in 2011. It is the largest penalty the agency has over obtained for a consent violation.

“The record setting penalty in this matter sends a clear message to all companies under an FTC privacy order,” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said. “No matter how big or small, all companies must abide by FTC orders against them and keep their privacy promises to consumers.”

The Google Safari settlement resolves allegations that Google developed a workaround to Safari’s no-tracking settings that allowed it to bypass users’ settings and allow Google’s DoubleClick to track people in order to target ads to them, based on their browsing history. Google originally defended the workaround by saying it only circumvented Safari’s settings in order to enable Safari users to like ads with the +1 button. The problem, according to the FTC, is that Google specifically instructed users that the Safari browser would block tracking cookies, which it obviously did not. That statement violated a 2011 consent decree reached in the Google Buzz privacy settlement that bans the company from misrepresenting its privacy settings, giving the FTC grounds to file contempt charges against Google.

According to the FTC’s complaint, Google specifically told Safari users that because the Safari browser is set by default to block third-party cookies, as long as users do not change their browser settings, this setting “effectively accomplishes the same thing as [opting out of this particular Google advertising tracking cookie].”  In addition, Google deceived consumers by stating that it complied with the Network Advertising Initiative’s self-regulatory code. The NAI requires members to disclose how they collect and use data.

The FTC Google Safari settlement does not provide money for consumers, but the company may still be on the hook with several class action lawsuits filed earlier this year. The Google Safari tracking class action lawsuits accuse Google of knowingly violating federal wiretapping lawsuit and committing fraud, as well as violating the terms of its Google Buzz privacy settlement with the FTC.

Google did not admit any wrongdoing in agreeing to the $11 million FTC settlement, and used its go-to explanation for the privacy glitch – that it didn’t know it was happening. The head of the FTC’s consumer protection bureau expressed frustration with Google’s repeated use of this excuse.

 
“It is troubling to us that Google says, ‘We didn’t know,'” David Vladeck said on a conference call with reporters. “Their answer in WiFi Street View was, ‘We didn’t realize what was going on.’ Their answer here is, ‘We really didn’t know.’ A company like Google … has to do better.”
 
See the FTC’s announcement of the FTC Google Safari Privacy Settlement for more information.
 

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Updated August 13th, 2012

 

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