Google location-tracking tactics troubled its own engineers

Google's own engineers were troubled by way company secretly tracked movements of people who didn't want to be followed until a 2018 Associated Press investigation uncovered shadowy surveillance, according to unsealed documents in a consumer fraud case.

behind--scenes peek stems from a three-month-old lawsuit against Google filed by Arizona's attorney general. files, unsealed late last week, reveal that Google knew it had a massive problem on its hands after an AP article published in August 2018 explained how company continued to track users' whereabouts even after y had disabled feature Google called “location history.”

released documents include internal Google emails and a fresh version of state's civil complaint with fewer redactions than original.

same day AP story was published, company held what one unidentified email correspondent called an “Oh S—-” meeting to discuss its location tracking tools, according to unsealed records in Arizona’s Maricopa County Superior Court. Google also began monitoring public reaction to AP story, including how it was trending across Facebook, Twitter and or influential online services, documents show.

Some of Google's own engineers scolded company for misleading people about how its location tracking settings worked. “I agree with article," one engineer wrote in a particularly blunt assessment after AP story was published. “Location off should mean location off, t except for this case or that case."

Ar Google engineer wrote, “Indeed we aren’t very good at explaining this to users." Ar concurred that what company was doing was “definitely confusing from a user point of view."

release of emails is embarrassing for a company that tries to build trust with billions of users of free services such as maps and online search, which in turn provide personal information Google can use to target ads. Those ads generated more than $130 billion in revenue last year alone.

Google is still fighting to keep many of exhibits and key passs in lawsuit redacted on grounds that contents contain confidential information.

After AP article on location tracking came out two years ago, Google made changes to its privacy settings to make it easier for users to conceal ir movements.

But revisions didn't deter Arizona Attorney General Mark Brvich from opening an investigation that culminated in his suing Google three months ago. complaint accuses Google of engaging in deceptive business practices that duped Arizona consumers, and could potentially result in billions of dollars of penalties if Brvich prevails.

“ recently unsealed documents reveal statements from Google’s own engineers that are in conflict with what company has been representing to public," Brvich said in a Wednesday statement.

Google is seeking to dismiss lawsuit, arguing that Arizona law only applies to goods and services that charge consumers. That would exclude free services that draw upon tracking tools that are at heart of lawsuit.

company also contends that Brvich, a Republican, may have been prodded to pursue investigation by Oracle, which has been involved in a long-running legal battle over rights to some of software code used in Google's Android software for smartphones and or mobile devices.

“Privacy controls have long been built into our services and our teams work continuously to discuss and improve m," Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said Wednesday. “In case of location information, we’ve heard feedback, and have worked hard to improve our privacy controls."