Google Sued in Australia for Misleading Consumers on Data Privacy

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has taken technology giant Google to court for allegedly misleading consumers to give away a lot of more personal information to boost its targeted advertising more than they had expected.

The ACCC – which is the consumer watchdog was to argue on Monday before the Federal Court that Google failed to “properly inform consumers” and did not gain their “explicit informed consent” when it changed a key privacy policy four years ago.

“We believe that many consumers, if given an informed choice, may have refused Google permission to combine and use such a wide array of their personal information for Google’s own financial benefit,” ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.

The Australia regulator further added that they will keep taking action in order to shape how those platforms behave to make sure the internet is a benefit to its users and not a detriment.

Google later said its notifications were “easy-to-understand” and optional.

“In June 2016, we updated our ads system and associated user controls to match the way people use Google products: across many different devices,” a Google spokesperson said.

“The changes we made were optional and we asked users to consent via prominent and easy-to-understand notifications. If a user did not consent, their experience of our products and services remained unchanged.” The spokesperson added in a statement

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) alleged that Google users were prompted to click “I agree” to this notification, which led to the tech giant being sued:

The notifications stated as follows:

1. “We’ve introduced some optional features for your account, giving you more control over the data Google collects and how it’s used, while allowing Google to show you more relevant ads.
2. “More information will be available in your Google Account making it easier for you to review and control”; and “Google will use this information to make ads across the web more relevant for you.”

This notification appeared to Google users from June 28 in year 2016 to up to (at least) December 2018 giving a question to the users on whether “to agree” or “not to agree”.

The ACCC further alleged that “I agree” notification was misleading because consumers could not have understood well the changes Google was making and the data used” hence the users “could not” provide informed consent.

“Beware with what you write on the internet” lawyers warns reviewers to be sure of backing up any negative reviews they leave on internet sites, as a growing number of business and individuals are suing for defamation.