Google to pay Md. $1M for collecting info on users’ Internet activity

Google will pay the Maryland government $1 million for collecting information on users’ online browsing activity without their permission.
The Baltimore Sun reports:

The data was gathered from iPhone and iPad users despite a default privacy setting on the devices’ Safari browser preventing the use of “cookies,” small files that track browsing activity. Google’s advertising network circumvented the policy from June 1, 2011, through Feb. 15, 2012, until it was reported in the media.
Maryland helped lead the [37-state] investigation resulting in the settlement, which also requires Google to stop using the type of code that overrides users’ privacy settings and to explain more about how it uses cookies.

Read the full story at the Baltimore Sun.
In July, state attorney general Doug Gansler sent a letter to Google “saying more needs to be done to protect consumers’ privacy.”