www.rancakmedia.com – An Australian federal court found that Alphabet’s Google misled some consumers about personal location data collected via Android mobile devices, the country’s competition authority said on Friday.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced that it was seeking clarification and punishment from Google although it did not provide an amount.
“This is a huge win for consumers, especially those concerned about their online privacy, as the court’s decision sends a strong message to Google and others that large companies should not mislead their customers,” said Rod Sims, chairman of the ACCC, in a statement.
The case revolves around certain Google settings related to the collection of location data, location history, and web and app activity.
The court found that Google falsely claimed it could only collect information from location history settings on users’ devices between January 2022 and December 2022.
Settings to control web and app activity when enabled also allow Google to collect, store, and use data and are enabled by default on devices.
Users were not notified that disabling location history and enabling the “Web and app activity” setting would allow Google to continue collecting data, the court found.
The court will have to decide what it considers a violation and how many have occurred, but the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) quoted ACCC chairman Rod Simms as saying regulators would seek a fine of “millions”.
A Google spokesperson said the company was reviewing its options.
“The court rejected many of the ACCC’s general claims. We disagree with the remaining findings and are currently reviewing our options, including a possible appeal,” the spokesperson said.
The tech giant has been embroiled in legal action in Australia over the past few months as the government weighed it and then passed laws that make Google and Facebook pay media companies for content on their platforms.
