Australia’s competition watchdog has Google in it sights over allegations the tech giant made false or misleading claims about what personal location data it was collecting.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission began proceedings against the tech giant in the Federal Court in NSW on Tuesday, alleging it breached the law through a series of on-screen representations made as users set up Google accounts on their Android mobile phones and tablets.
The ACCC says when people set up their Google accounts on phones and tablets between January 2017 and late 2018, they would have incorrectly believed that “Location History” was the only setting that affected whether the company was collecting a user’s location data.
In fact, the setting “Web & App Activity” also had to be switched off if users didn’t want their location data collected.
“We allege that as a result of these on-screen representations, Google has collected, kept and used highly sensitive and valuable personal information about consumers’ location without them making an informed choice,” ACCC chair Rod Sims said in a statement on Tuesday.
News: Google allegedly misled consumers on collection and use of location data https://t.co/JWSORxklI3
— ACCC (@acccgovau) October 29, 2019
Google says it will fight the claims.
“We are currently reviewing the details of these allegations,” a spokeswoman said in a statement.
“We continue to engage with the ACCC and intend to defend this matter.”
-with AAP
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