Google Inc is close to paying $22.5 million to settle charges that it bypassed the privacy settings of customers using Apple’s Safari browser, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials briefed on the settlement terms.<\/p>\n
The fine would be the largest penalty ever levied on a single company by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the Journal said late Monday.<\/p>\n
The charges involve Google’s use of special computer code, or “cookies,” to trick Apple’s Safari browser so Google could monitor users that had blocked such tracking, the newspaper said.<\/p>\n
Google disabled the code after being contacted by the Journal. According to Google, tracking of Apple users was inadvertent and did not cause any harm to consumers, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n
“The FTC is focused on a 2009 help center page. We have now changed that page and taken steps to remove the ad cookies,” Google told the Journal.<\/p>\n
Google also faces potential sanctions from other governments. It is being investigated by the European Union to determine if the company complies with Europe’s stricter privacy laws, the Journal reported.<\/p>\n
An FTC spokeswoman declined to comment to the Journal.<\/p>\n
Google and FTC could not be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.<\/p>\n
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