Forced labour in China

The Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country. Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors, including brands owned by this company. The Australian Strategic Policy Institute's 2020 report estimates (somewhat conservatively) that more than 80,000 Uyghurs were transferred out of Xinjiang to work in factories across China between 2017 and 2019, and some of them were sent directly from detention camps.

Source: ASPI (2020)

Antitrust fine in Europe

In 2018 Google was fined a record 4.3 billion euros by EU regulators for breaking antitrust laws. The European Commission says Google has abused its Android market dominance in three key areas. Google has been bundling its search engine and Chrome apps into the operating system. Google has also blocked phone makers from creating devices that run forked versions of Android, and it "made payments to certain large manufacturers and mobile network operators" to exclusively bundle the Google search app on handsets.

Source: The Verge (2018)

Fined for manipulating search results

In 2017 Google was fined a record 2.4 billion euros by EU regulators for breaking antitrust law. The decision follows a seven-year investigation into the US company's search algorithms, which ended with the judgement that Google had "abused its dominant position by systematically favoring" its own shopping comparison service.

Source: The Verge (2017)

Supply chain practices in China

The Green Supply Chain Corporate Information Transparency Index (CITI) evaluates consumer-facing companies that have a sizeable supply chain in China. The evaluation uses government supervision data and public information to assess the environmental management of their supply chains in China. This company received a score of 12.3/100 (retrieved 24 Nov 2023).

Source: IPE (2023)

Fined $170m for children's privacy violations

In 2019 Google and its subsidiary YouTube was ordered to pay a record US$170 million to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission and the New York Attorney General that the YouTube video sharing service illegally collected personal information from children without their parents’ consent. This is by far the largest civil penalty ever obtained by the Commission in a children's privacy case.

Source: FTC (2019)

Fined for employee discrimination

In 2021 Google reached a deal with the US Department of Labour, requiring it to pay nearly $US2.6 million in back wages to thousands of workers over claims that the company's pay and hiring practices illegally disadvantaged women and Asians. Google has faced lawsuits before over claims it discriminates against women and people of colour.

Source: Business Insider (2021)

$100m face recognition privacy settlement

In Oct 2021, this company agreed to pay US$100 million to resolve claims it violated the privacy rights of consumers through Google Photo face recognition. The settlement benefits Illinois residents who appeared in a photo in Google Photos between May 1, 2015, and April 25, 2022. Google Photos is a way for Google users to store their photos online and access them from any device. According to the plaintiffs, Google's facial recognition technology and storage of "faceprints" violates Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Follow the link the read more. "Google failed to obtain consent from anyone when it introduced its facial recognition technology."

Source: Top Class Actions (2022)

47% in Big Tech Scorecard

Ranking Digital Rights (RDR) evaluates and ranks 14 of the world's most powerful digital platforms on their policies and practices affecting people's rights to freedom of expression and privacy. In RDR's 2022 Big Tech Scorecard, none of the digital platforms earned a passing grade. This company ranked #4/14, with a total score of 47/100.

Source: Ranking Digital Rights (2022)

Workers rights in China

A 2023 report by China Labor Watch investigated labour conditions in China's consumer electronics sector using three stages of research: analysis of social media posts, case studies through online research, and in-person factory investigation. Labour abuses identified in factories supplying this company include excessive working hours, mandatory overtime, high labour intensity, deception, poor food and/or living conditions, and illegal use of student interns.

Source: China Labor Watch (2023)

Fined for anti-competitive practices

In 2021 India's competition regulator fined Google $161.9 million for anti-competitive practices related to Android mobile devices in "multiple markets". The Competition Commission of India said in a press release that Google requiring device manufacturers to pre-install its entire Google Mobile Suite and mandating prominent placement of those apps "amounts to imposition of unfair condition on the device manufacturers".

Source: Tech Crunch (2022)

$392m location tracking settlement

In 2022 Google agreed to a US$391.5 million settlement with 40 state attorneys general over its location tracking practices. The settlement outlines that Google misled its users into thinking they had turned off location tracking even as the company continued to collect their location information.

Source: Tech Crunch (2022)

Tax avoidance

This company scores Ethical Consumer's worst rating for the likely use of tax avoidance strategies, and has at least two high risk subsidiaries in tax havens.

Source: Ethical Consumer (2022)

Retirement plan investments

The Invest Your Values Corporate Retirement Plan Sustainability Scorecard by As You Sow rates retirement plans on seven environmental and social sustainability issues. This company's default corporate retirement plan offered to employees is the Vanguard Target Retirement Fund which is rated Fair for gender equality and civilian firearms, and Poor for fossil fuels, deforestation, prison industrial complex, military weapons and tobacco. This retirement plan has millions of dollars invested in fossil fuels, deforestation-risk agribusiness, and arms manufacturers.

Source: As You Sow (2022)

Fined for aggressive data practices

In 2021 Apple and Google were fined 10 million euros apiece by Italy's competition and market authority (AGCM) which has found they did not provide their users with clear enough information on commercial uses of their data - in violation of the country's consumer code. The regulator also accuses the pair of deploying "aggressive" practices to push users to accept the commercial processing. Google is accused of omitting relevant information at the account creation phase and as consumers are using its services - information the regulator says should be providing in order for people to decide whether or not to consent to its use of their data for commercial ends.

Source: Tech Crunch (2021)

Copyright fine in France

In 2021 Google was fined 500 million euros by France's antitrust watchdog for failing to comply with the regulator's orders on how to conduct talks with the country's news publishers in a row over copyright. Google must come up with proposals on how it will compensate news agencies and other publishers for the use of their news. If it does not do that, the company will face additional fines of up to 900,000 euros a day.

Source: Financial Review (2021)

$90m Play Store earnings settlement

In 2022 Google agreed to pay US$90 million to settle a lawsuit with U.S. developers that accused Google of abusing its power of app distribution and charging an unfair fee of 30% for app purchases and in-app purchases made through the Play Store. U.S. developers who made less than US$2 million each year between 2016 and 2021 through Google Play Store earnings will be eligible for compensation.

Source: Tech Crunch (2022)

Fined $60m for misleading representations

In 2022 the Federal Court of Australia ordered Google LLC to pay $60 million in penalties for making misleading representations to consumers about the collection and use of their personal location data on Android phones between January 2017 and December 2018, following court action by the ACCC. The Court found that Google had breached the Australian Consumer Law by representing to some Android users that the setting titled "Location History" was the only Google account setting that affected whether Google collected, kept and used personally identifiable data about their location. In fact, another Google account setting titled "Web & App Activity" also enabled Google to collect, store and use personally identifiable location data when it was turned on, and that setting was turned on by default.

Source: ACCC (2022)

$23m Google Search settlement

In 2023 Google agreed to a US$23 million settlement to resolve claims it shared search queries with third-party websites and companies without user consent. Plaintiffs in the case claim their information was wrongfully compromised by this conduct.

Source: Top Class Actions (2023)

$1.6b patent infringement settlement

In 2024 Google reached a settlement in Singular Computing's US$1.6 billion lawsuit accusing the search giant of patent infringement during its development of artificial intelligence (AI) programs. The lawsuit claimed Google used patented AI processing in its Tensor Processing Units.

Source: Top Class Actions (2024)

$700m antitrust settlement

In 2023 Google agreed to a US$700 million settlement over accusations that its control of the Google Play Store violated antitrust rules and impeded a free market. Google reached an early agreement with a group of app developers over an antitrust case that alleged Google excluded competing app stores from its operating systems and limited users to its own in-app payment system. Google still faces more antitrust lawsuits in the USA.

Source: Top Class Actions (2023)

$250m data breach settlement

In 2024 Google agreed to a US$350 million settlement in a lawsuit claiming a software glitch led to a data breach in which Google+ users' personal data was exposed for three years. The lawsuit alleged Google knew about the data breach in March 2018 but did not acknowledge it while publicly stressing its commitment to data security.

Source: Top Class Actions (2024)

Involvement with Burma

This company appears on Burma Campaign UK's 'Dirty List' of companies assisting the Burmese military to continue to commit human rights violations and environmental destruction. Google hosts applications created by the Burmese military. This includes one for Min Aung Hlaing, Commander in Chief of the Burmese military, whom United Nations investigators have said should be prosecuted for genocide. It also hosts applications for the Myawady military newspaper, the Ministry of Defence, and military-owned companies.

Source: Burma Campaign UK (2023)

3.5/20 in Social Benchmark

The 2024 Social Benchmark assesses the world's 2,000 most influential companies on their responsibility in meeting society's fundamental expectations towards three measurement areas: respecting human rights, providing decent work, and acting ethically. This company was assessed in 2023 and received a score of 3.5/20. The average score was an alarmingly low 4.6/20 and the highest score was 15.5/20.

Source: World Benchmarking Alliance (2024)

CEO Pay Ratio of 808:1

In 2022 the median pay for a worker at this company was US$279,802. The CEO was paid 808 times this amount. Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills. The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or taxed more). In contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 58-to-1 in 1989.

Source: AFL-CIO (2023)

D+ grade in Plastic Promises Scorecard

As You Sow's 2024 Plastic Promises Scorecard measures the corporate ambition and action of 225 large companies across six industries on six core pillars of plastic packaging pollution prevention: 1) Recyclability, 2) Reduction, 3) Recycled Content, 4) Recovery, 5) Reuse, and 6) Producer Responsibility. This company received a grade of D+.

Source: As You Sow (2024)

Political donations

This company is on OpenSecrets.org's list of "Top Donors", a list of the 100 biggest givers in US federal-level politics since 1990. Companies on this list lobby and spend big, with large sums sent to candidates, parties and leadership PACs. This company comes in at number 61 on the list, with contributions totalling $44,788,048 between 1990 and 2020.

Source: Open Secrets (2020)

Top spender on lobbying in USA

This company is on OpenSecrets.org's list of "Top Spenders on Lobbying", a list of the 20 organizations that have spent the most trying to influence US government policy. This company came in at number 8 on the list in both 2018 and 2017, having spent $40,240,000 on lobbying in those 2 years.

Source: Open Secrets (2021)

Excessive CEO pay

As You Sow's 2021 report, 'The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs', reveals the 100 most overpaid CEOs from USA's 500 largest public companies (as determined by the S&P 500 list). This company's CEO, Sundar Pichai came in at number 1 on the list, having been paid US$280,621,552 in 2020. According to the report, "Most CEOs have come to be grossly overpaid, and that overpayment is harmful to the companies, the shareholders, the customers, the other employees, the economy, and society as a whole."

Source: As You Sow (2021)