Google paying £14.4m fine for tracking web surfers

Google is paying a record £14.4 million fine to settle allegations that it broke a privacy promise by secretly tracking millions of web surfers who use Apple's Safari browser.

The penalty announced today by the Federal Trade Commission matches the figure that The Associated Press and other media outlets had reported last month. It's the largest fine that the FTC has imposed against a company for violating a previous agreement with the agency.

To settle a previous case, Google had signed a 20-year agreement that, among other things, included a company pledge not to mislead consumers about its privacy practices.

The FTC opened its investigation into the Safari activities six months ago after a researcher at Stanford University revealed that Google had overridden Safari safeguards that are supposed to prevent outside parties from monitoring web surfing activity without a user's permission.

The tracking occurs through snippets of computer coding, known as cookies, that help internet services and advertisers target marketing pitches based on an analysis of the interests implied by a person's web surfing activity.

Google immediately withdrew its intrusive technology from Safari after the manipulation was reported.

But the circumvention of Apple's built-in settings appeared to contradict a statement in Google's online help centre assuring Safari users that they didn't need to do anything more to ensure their online activities wouldn't be logged by Google.

The apparent contradiction between Google's words and actions became the focal point of the FTC investigation.

Google Inc isn't admitting any wrongdoing in the latest settlement.

Google's fine surpasses a £12 million penalty that the FTC slapped on a telemarketer accused of duping people into believing they were donating to charities.