At least eight groups of European consumer organisations have accused Google of misleading users and allowing the company to track their location. Furthermore, these organisations are filing complaints against the tech giant under the EU’s new privacy laws, which are, incidentally, quite strict.
Complaints increased after the Norwegian Consumer Council published a report on Google’s location tracking system, which is mandatory for users of Android smartphones.
Although the issue has been ongoing for some time, it has intensified this year following Europe’s adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May, which allows for fines of up to 4 per cent of global annual turnover.
The “Norwegian watchdogs” also reported that Google encourages users to share their location with the company. Some common tactics used by Google include ‘hidden default settings’, providing consumers with inaccurate information about how the data collected is used, and repeated notifications to enable the ‘location’ feature. Furthermore, users are forced to enable location tracking if they wish to use Google Assistant.
Under the new GDPR policy, consumers are given some control over their personal data. However, Google’s unethical practices contravene the regulatory committee’s guidelines and, if they do not meet the GDPR’s consent requirements, Google could face serious consequences.
When contacted, a Google spokesperson denied the allegations and clarified that “location history” is disabled by default on all Android phones and that users can edit, pause and delete it at any time.
However, the spokesperson also made it clear that data relating to the user’s location is beneficial to the company, and that the information is used to improve the user experience on Google.
The trade union named in the complaint against Google includes the VZBV group from the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Greece, Slovenia, Sweden and Germany.