Google will pay $22.5M for Safari cookies

Google has agreed to pay a $22.5 million settlement to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the largest penalty ever imposed by the agency, over a charge that the company bypassed the privacy of users of Apple’s Safari Web browser.

Safari, the built-in browser in Apple’s iPhones and iPads, has default settings that do not allow websites to install small files, known as cookies, which can be used to track users. Some cookies can be used to allow interaction with social media such as Facebook’s Like button. Safari’s default settings make exceptions for these kinds of cookies.

{mosads}The FTC charges that when Google created its Google Plus social network and a corresponding “+1” button, the cookie that allowed interaction with the latter caused Safari to accept other cookies from Google’s DoubleClick ad network. At the time, Google told Safari users that they were automatically opted out of such cookies because of Safari’s default settings.

Safari users saw advertisements online tailored to their browsing history, a violation of their privacy settings. Google has insisted that the tracking was not intentional.

Google had previously agreed to a consent decree with the FTC in 2011 over charges that it had misrepresented how it handled users’ personal information with the rollout of Google Plus’s predecessor, Buzz.

The Wall Street Journal brought attention to the cookie exploit, first discovered by Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer, when it published an article on the practice in February.

Google’s practices have come under intense scrutiny lately. In addition to the flap over the cookies, Google came under fire in March for its new privacy policy, designed to unify how the company handles users’ privacy across several services like YouTube and Picasa. The European Union had asked Google to delay implementation over concerns that the policy might violate European data-protection rules.

Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Co-Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, issued a statement after the settlement was reached.

“When consumers say ‘No’ to tracking, companies should not try to surreptitiously circumvent this preference,” Markey said. “Today’s announcement reinforces the need to vigorously monitor the promises technology companies make about protecting consumers’ privacy.”