A search for ‘Australia News’ on the Google homepage, arranged on a computer in Sydney, Australia, on Friday 22 January 2021.
David Gray | Bloomberg via Getty Images
The federal court in Australia has found that Google is misleading users about personal location data collected between Android devices between 2017 and 2018, the country’s competition regulator said on Friday.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) – which launched legal proceedings against Google in 2019 – said the ruling was a “significant victory for consumers” in terms of protecting online privacy.
Google has misled Android users into thinking that the search giant could only collect personal data if the ‘location history’ setting was on, the ACCC said. The court finds that Google can still collect, store and use personally identifiable location data when the ‘web and application activity’ setting is turned on – even if ‘location history’ is turned off.
“This is a major victory for consumers, especially for anyone concerned about their privacy online, as the court’s ruling sends a strong message to Google and others that large businesses should not mislead their customers,” said Rod Sims, chairman of the ACCC, said in a statement.
We do not agree with the remaining findings and are currently reviewing our options, including a possible appeal.
A Google spokesman pointed out that the court rejected many of the ACCC’s broad claims.
“We do not agree with the remaining findings and we are currently reviewing our options, including a possible appeal,” a Google spokesman said in a statement.
Following the ACCC’s lawsuits, the technology giant has since improved user transparency and control, including an automatic location history removal feature and an incognito mode in its Maps product.
The ACCC said it was seeking statements, fines, publication orders and compliance orders, but the amount was not specified.
“In addition to fines, we are seeking an order for Google to publish a notice to Australian consumers in order to better explain Google’s location data settings in the future,” Sims said. Google settings enabled.
The competition regulator and the technology giant have previously faced a media law requiring Google and Facebook to pay for news. Australia passed the law in parliament in February.