(Radio Iowa) – Iowa is part of a multi-million-dollar settlement with Google on the way it tracks your personal information. Attorney General spokesperson, Ashlee Kieler says Iowa and 39 other states brought the claims. “This group of attorneys general alleges that Google violated state consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about its tracking practices,” she says. Kieler says the goal is to make it easier for users to understand what’s happening.

“Google has a couple of different ways that track you. There’s location history, but then there’s also this other setting within its web and app activity,” Kieler says. “And so it was a little confusing to confuse consumers, because location history is something that you turn off, it’s off automatically, but then this other piece — the web and app activity — you have to go in and manually take that off. So it was tracking consumers when they thought they weren’t being tracked.” Kieler says the company has agreed to make changes.

“Google is going to revamp some of its tracking practices, so it will show consumers additional information when they sign in. And so they’ll know more about what location tracking is on and off and how to do that,” Kieler says. She says they’ll also give more information on the type of tracking data they’re collecting and what they’re doing with that information. The states involved will receive nearly 392 million dollars from Google as part of the settlement. Iowa’s portion is nearly six-point-two million dollars, but Google users won’t see any of that money directly.

“That will go to our consumer education and litigation fund. Monies from many different supplements go to that fund, and it works to support investigations that our office does in education efforts, through our Consumer Protection Division,” she says. Kieler says this settlement makes a key statement about the public’s privacy. “It’s a very big settlement it is the largest privacy settlement the attorney general has been involved in. This is a really important matter, privacy is very important to consumers and our office. So we’re, we’re happy we’re able to, you know, make a pathway into this,” Kieler says.

Iowa is joined in the final settlement by Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

Atlantic, IA – Cass County Auditor Kathy Somers today (Monday, 11/14), conducted a successful post-election audit of two races in the General Election.  Somers said ballots in the Grant/Anita/Lincoln/Benton/Franklin/Wiota precinct were hand counted by election workers to ensure they matched the totals reported by the ballot tabulator. The precinct was randomly selected by the Secretary of State following election day. The gubernatorial race and constitutional amendment ballot measure were audited. The results matched 100%. Post-election audits are mandatory in all 99 counties following each election.

The Cass County Auditor’s office thanks each of the poll workers and audit board members who willingly served their community by assisting with election day and the audit. Anyone interested in being a poll worker for future elections, please contact the auditor’s office at 712-243-4570.

For more information about election security in Iowa, visit the Secretary of State’s website at sos.iowa.gov. Information about casting your ballot is available at VoterReady.Iowa.gov.

(Greenfield, Iowa) – Adair County Sheriff Jeff Vandewater reports three arrests. Most recently, last Friday afternoon, 42-year-old Thomas Jefferson Pearcy, of Portland, OR., was arrested by Stuart Police near a car dealership in Stuart. Pearcy was arrested on two counts of Harassment in the 1st Degree, after he allegedly yelled at a man and woman in a vehicle whom he did not know, and threatened to harm them. When confronted by Police, Pearcy gave them a false name. His identity was determined after he was fingerprinted. Bond was set at $2,000.

On Nov. 8th at around 6-p.m., Police in Adair arrested 60-year-old Judith Ann Schmidt, of Adair, for Possession of a Controlled Substance/Marijuana – 3rd offense, and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. Her arrest was the result of a traffic stop. During an investigation, the Officer found in Schmidt’s vehicle, a small container in her purse, as well as two tools that had marijuana residue. She also admitted to having a pipe on her that contained marijuana. Schmidt was released a few hours later on a $2,300 cash or surety bond.

And, on Nov. 7th, at around 11:40-p.m., 32-year-old Victor Tyleak-Dommick Walker, of Brooklyn, NY, was arrested for Simple Eluding. A Trooper with the Iowa State Patrol attempted to stop a dark colored sedan on eastbound I-80 near mile marker 89, for speeding 86 in a 70 mph zone. As he approached the vehicle in his patrol cruiser, the car increased speed and began to pull away.

The Trooper activated his emergency lights and siren. The suspect vehicle exited the interstate and proceeded south on Adair-Madison Avenue for one-mile, before the car went out of control and into the east ditch. There, it entered a shallow creek and came to rest. Walker was released from the Adair County Jail the following afternoon, on his Own Recognizance.

(Council Bluffs, Iowa) – Officials with the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office report that during the first weekend of November, there were several burglaries that occurred in Neola and in the Virginia Hills area, just outside of Council Bluffs. As we’ve previously reported, on the Nov. 7th, Mills County attempted to stop a vehicle on Highway 34. A pursuit that ensued ended just inside of Council Bluffs after successful stop stick deployments. Both occupants were located and arrested.

Pott. Co. S/O Facebook page photo

Upon further investigation stolen items linked to burglaries in Neola, Virginia Hills, and Sarpy County were found inside of the suspect’s vehicle. Most of the property has been returned to the owners and the two suspects will be receiving further charges. Authorities say this is a prime example of how teamwork between agencies and different divisions pays off. They commended their colleagues by saying “Great work was done by the Mills County Sheriff’s Office and the Pottawattamie County Road Patrol and Investigations Divisions.”