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Tech giant Google is facing a multi-million dollar fine following a landmark court ruling that the company misled some Australian users of Android devices about how it collects location data.
The Federal Court found that some users who disabled the location history setting on their device wouldn t have realised they had to disable a second setting to prevent their data from being collected.
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission says the case is the first of its kind in relation to location data in the world.
Guest: ACCC Chairman Rod Sims
Duration: 6min 41sec
Federal Court rules Google misled consumers on location data collection and use
Result of ACCC proceedings against the search engine giant for location data collection, use and information across mobile devices described as world-first
Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is claiming a world-first after the Federal Court found Google guilty of misleading consumers about how personal location data collected across Android devices was captured and used.
The findings released today come more than 18 months after the regulatory watchdog kicked off proceedings against the search engine giant, alleging misleading and false representation around consumer data from at least January 2017. The case related to location data collected and used when Google Account settings were enabled or disabled via Android mobile devices.
16 April 2021
The Federal Court has found that Google LLC and Google Australia Pty Ltd (together, Google) misled consumers about personal location data collected through Android mobile devices between January 2017 and December 2018, in a world-first enforcement action brought by the ACCC.
“This is an important victory for consumers, especially anyone concerned about their privacy online, as the Court’s decision sends a strong message to Google and others that big businesses must not mislead their customers,” ACCC Chair Rod Sims said.
“Today’s decision is an important step to make sure digital platforms are up front with consumers about what is happening with their data and what they can do to protect it.”
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