A search for ‘Australia News’ on the Google homepage, hosted on a desktop computer in Sydney, Australia, on Friday, January 22, 2021.
David Gray | Bloomberg via Getty Images
Australia’s federal court ruled that Google misled users about personal location data collected from Android mobile devices between 2017 and 2018, the country’s competition regulator said Friday.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) – which started legal proceedings against Google in 2019 – said the ruling was a “major consumer victory” over protecting online privacy.
Google misled Android users into thinking that the search giant could only collect personal information if the “location history” setting was turned on, the ACCC said. The court ruled that Google could still collect, store and use personally identifiable location data if the ‘web and application activity’ setting was turned on, even if ‘location history’ was turned off.
“This is a major win for consumers, especially anyone concerned about their privacy online, as the court’s decision sends a strong message to Google and others that large companies should not mislead their customers,” said ACCC Chairman Rod Sims in a statement.
We disagree with the remaining findings and are currently reviewing our options, including a possible appeal.
A Google spokesperson pointed out that the court has dismissed many of the ACCC’s broad claims.
“We disagree with the remaining findings and are currently reviewing our options, including a possible appeal,” the Google spokesperson said in a statement.
Following the ACCC’s legal process, the tech giant has since improved user transparency and control, including an automatic location history deletion feature and an incognito mode in its Maps product.
The ACCC said it is asking for statements, fines, publication warrants and compliance warrants, but has not specified the amount.
“In addition to sanctions, we are asking Google for a notice to Australian consumers to better explain Google’s location data settings in the future,” said Sims, adding that it would allow users to make informed choices about whether or not to leave. of certain Google settings.
The competition regulator and technology giant were previously faced with a media law that would require Google and Facebook to pay for news. Australia passed that law in parliament in February.