A Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled that Google will have to go to trial to determine if customers are misled into believing their data is collected in certain ways and that users actually have control of what information is collected.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich argued the company deliberately makes it difficult for those using its products to know what data is collected and sent.
He also said the company doesn’t make it easy to turn off tracking–and even if tracking is off, that information is sent anyway.
Google asserts its practices don’t go against Arizona law because it provides services like Google Maps free of charge.
Judge Timothy Thomason has rejected those claims because nothing in the Consumer Fraud Act requires a payment, and that while customers don’t pay money, according to the privacy policy, they do exchange user information.
