Australia’s Federal Court has ruled that Google “partially” misled users in the country about the collection and use of location data. Judge Thomas Thawley announced the verdict in the case brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in 2019, which accused the technology giant of tracking the location of Android users without giving them an informed choice.
The ACCC said that between January 2017 and December 2018, the company gave users the impression that having their “location records” in effect was enough to to stop Google from collecting their data. The watchdog said this was not the case, as Google could still collect location information if “Web & App Activity” was set as the default. Location information.
Judge Thawley agreed with the commission that the tech giant had violated Australian law prohibiting misleading or deceptive conduct. He found that the company’s actions were somehow misleading because, while they “do not mislead all users,” they “mislead or are likely to mislead some users.
ACCC Chairman Rod Sims told reporters, “We think today’s result sends a very clear message to digital platforms that they must first communicate with consumers about what is actually happening with their data, how it is being used and how consumers can protect their data. “
Google, however, disagrees with the ruling and is considering filing an appeal. The company introduced the ability to automatically delete activity and location data every three or 18 months in 2019. Last year, it enabled the auto-delete option by default for new users, but older users still had to go into their Google settings and turn it on manually.
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