Report: Google To Pay Massive $22.5 Million “Cookiegate” Fine

The Wall Street Journal reports Google and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is expected to announce the terms of ‘Cookiegate’ fine. This fine is due to Google bypassing the default privacy settings in Apple’s Safari web browser.

The Wall Street Journal says they expect the fine to be the “largest penalty ever levied on a single company” by the FTC. The amount is a whopping $22.5 million according to sources. For Google, $22.5 million is not much but for their reputation, it just tacks on one more dent to their “do no evil” reputation.

The penalty is $16,000 per violation per day, adding up to the $22.5 million.

Google said in a statement, “The FTC is focused on a 2009 help center page… We have now changed that page and taken steps to remove the ad cookies,” referring to the small computer files that can enable tracking of people’s online activities.

An FTC spokeswoman declined to comment.

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