Google will reportedly pay $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. 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.

According to the charges, Google hacked past a key privacy setting on iPhones and iPads and other devices using Apple's Safari browser and placed tracking cookies on them. Even if Safari users had blocked cookies, the code helped Google keep monitoring them.

Google is being also investigated by the European Union to determine if the company complies with Europe's privacy laws.