'It's like the value of the fine.'
Alphabet Inc's Google pleaded guilty to charges of its tracking practices without users' knowledge and agreed to pay a $391.5 million fine.
According to an investigation led by the attorneys of Oregon and Nebraska, representing 40 other states in the United States (US), the search engine giant was found to be tracking the location of its users without their knowledge.
It is not something new, in fact the investigation that has been carried out has lasted for several years and Alphabet itself appears to have pleaded guilty.
For the record, Google has reportedly been recording all user location data without their knowledge since 2014 and an investigation began in 2018 to determine whether the company violated privacy rights or not.
Apart from the payment of the fine, the court also ordered Google to be more transparent or open with users about its tracking practices including location on the website.
Attorney Tom Miller explained that Google should not only pay a fine but also be directed to be more open with its tracking practices to avoid violating users' privacy rights.
Following that, a Google spokesperson issued a counter statement saying the company is improving its tracking practices since there have been policy changes over the past few years.
Meanwhile, the state of Arizona also fined Google $85 million in October 2022 for the same charges.
Even Texas, Indiana, Washington and Columbia also identified Google's wrongdoing and sued them in January.
As of this writing Alphabet shares are trading down 0.74% at $95.70.
