Iowa will collect more than $6 million from Google over the web giant’s location-tracking practices.
The settlement is part of a statewide, $390 million lawsuit.
The Iowa Attorney General’s office has seen an increase in complaints related to online activity, and has contributed more resources to policing online practices.
The lawsuit contends that Google is tracking users in many ways and without their knowledge.
Ashlee Kieler, a communications specialist with the Iowa Attorney General’s office, said people don’t know they have to share their office location in different locations on their phone or laptop.
“It specifically involves Google site history and then, web and app activity,” Kieler said. “Location history is automatically turned off if you’re a Google user. But web and app activity, which is separate from setting up an account, is automatically turned on when you start your account.”
The lawsuit, which was initiated by the Maryland Attorney General, claims that Google built detailed profiles of its customers, failed to notify them that their personal location information was being collected and failed to disclose that they were being tracked multiple times.
While Iowans who used Google will not receive personal restitution from this settlement, Kieler said his state will use a $6 million portion of the settlement to strengthen the AG’s Consumer Protection Division, which handles complaints and people reporting how technology and information can be used.
“Technology is a part of everyone’s life now,” Kieler said. “And it’s important that consumers understand when and how they’re being tracked, and know what companies are doing with that information.”
The suit requires Google to be more transparent about its tracking practices, and to show information to users when they turn in a location-related account.
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The state of Maryland has entered into several settlements with Experian over data breaches.
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office, along with those in 39 other states, announced two separate settlements with Experian and its subsidiaries recently as companies handling personal data. Experian failed to inform customers about data breaches in 2010 and 2015.
As part of the settlement, Experian paid penalties and agreed to improve its data handling and security.
Brian Frosh, the Attorney General, said that in order to make the new methods effective, Experian will have to hire outside firms to audit their usage data.
“There will be monitors in place that the hires will look over their shoulders who will see what they are doing and what they are doing,” Frosh explained.
Experian did not respond to our request for comment.
A few states have enacted comprehensive data privacy laws. Maryland’s Personal Information Protection Act is not comprehensive, but it has been strengthened since it was enacted in 2008. The law now mandates data aggregators such as Experian to notify customers of data breaches within 10 days of discovery.
When asked if laws from Congress and state legislatures would establish stricter data protection and privacy laws, Frosh said yes, and to design biometrics.
“You can get a DNA test now. It goes into a database somewhere. It can be sold to other entities,” Frosh outlined. “We think that it is included among the things that are kept within the scope of personal information that people should take special care of.”
The agreement requires Experian to offer affected users five years of free credit monitoring services. For more info on data privacy and security, among other consumer services, visit the Attorney General’s website.
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The Georgia Rental Assistance Program and Georgia Power have partnered to help eligible families with past due utility bills.
State and power companies are using federal American Rescue Plan dollars that were originally allocated last year for emergency rental assistance. Tonya Cureton Curry, deputy commissioner of housing at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, said some of the money was used to house more than 51,000 renters safely, paying more than $8,000 in past-due bills.
“Yes, this was a one-time federal government grant,” he said, “and it was an unusual opportunity to cover rental, utility, and other housing-related expenses for Georgians and their families who were experiencing debt difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Cureton Curry added that about $45 million is still available, which should help about 200,000 Georgia families pay their statutory benefits. Georgia Power is an electric provider for 2.7 million customers in 155 of the state’s 159 counties.
During the pandemic, Cureton Curry said many families have experienced job losses or cutbacks in working hours, and even in some cases serious illness. Some have already taken further damages.
“People are getting back to work and all those kinds of things,” he said. “And so we hope that they will be able to pay their rent, and we hope that they will benefit from the money.”
Although the Portal Assistance Rental Program is no longer accepting new applications, he said he is still managing the current pipeline of applications and distributing money to those who enter.
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Internet service in Los Angeles County is often offered at higher prices in low-income areas, while better ones are offered in more affluent areas, according to a report from the California Community Foundation and Digital Equity LA.
Researchers randomly picked addresses in every state in the county and took Internet service from AT&T, Frontier, and Charter Spectrum, which has a monopoly in parts of the county.
Shayna Englin, director of the digital equity initiative at the California Community Foundation, said the disparities in the spectrum of promotion offerings were stark, for example, between low-income Watts and wealthier Mar Vista.
“Internet Ultra, the slowest speed they offer in the highest-income neighborhoods, for $70 per month, good for one year, in Watts,” Englin outlined. “A few miles away in Mar Vista, they offer the same thing for $30 a month, a good price for two years.”
Card Spectrum, in a statement, said plans, speeds and prices are the same for each country running. He discussed some of the information, and requested a cherry-picked report. The company has built the largest internet infrastructure in the county and is participating in the Emergency Broadband Benefit and Affordable Connectivity Program, which offer low rates for low-income subscribers.
Jorge Rivera, executive director of the People’s Resource Center in Long Beach, one of 40 community groups that helped collect data for the study, called the signs discriminatory.
“Even if there are developer-acquisition plans, they are still discriminatory because you offer less price in higher income areas than you offer in lower income areas,” Rivera argued. “So this way of promotion is not an appropriate response to a discriminatory practice.”
Rivera argued that the internet service should be treated as a utility, not a luxury, because people depend on it for work, school, telemedicine and more.
Disclosure: The Community Foundation of California contributes to our fund for reporting on Education, Health Issues, Housing/Food, and Immigrant Issues. If you would like to help with the news of the state, click here.
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