Daniel Porter
Jul 11, 2012
Featured

FTC gives Google $22.5M slap on the wrist

The latest chapter in Google's online privacy story involves surreptitiously circumventing privacy settings in the Safari browser. Now, Google has agreed to pay the FTC's $22.5 million fine for its privacy violation. The case centered around Google websites placing cookies on a user's system despite Safari browser settings intended to disallow this. Curiously, the suit hinged not on the privacy violation itself, but on the fact that Google lied about it, mentioning on a help page that they would not store information about user's visits. Google claims the violation was not intentional, but privacy experts and watchdogs are more suspicious.

Technology News: Tech Law: FTC Turns Deaf Ear to Google's 'Ignorance' Defense in Safari Snafu
Google is about to be smacked with the highest fine ever levied by the Federal Trade Commission -- $22.5 million -- according to reports. The search engine is expected to agree to the stiff penalty to put to rest the agency's concerns over its apparent privacy violations in connection with Apple's Safari Web browser.