Indiana To Get Share Of $17 Million Settlement With Google

Indiana will get just over $354,000 as part of a multi-state settlement agreement with Google, Inc. over allegations the tech giant violated consumer privacy.

Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced the agreement on Monday. Indiana is sharing the $17 million settlement with 36 other states and the District of Columbia.

The settlement closes the books on allegations Google circumvented privacy settings in Apple’s Safari Web browser, which would have blocked all third party cookies small files set in Internet users’ Web browsers that allow advertisers to gather information about the users’, including  their Web surfing habits.

Zoeller said the company’s actions were in violation of state consumer protection and related computer privacy laws.

In addition to the money, Google also agreed to do the following:

• Not to override a browser’s cookie blocking settings without the consumer’s consent or unless it is necessary to so in order to detect, prevent or otherwise address fraud, security or technical issues.
• Not misrepresent or omit material information to consumers about how Google serves advertisements to their browsers.
• Improve the information it provides to consumers regarding cookies, their purposes, and how they can be managed by consumers using Google’s products or services.
• Maintain systems designed to ensure the expiration of the third-party cookies placed on Safari browsers while their default settings had been circumvented.