Australian Court Finds Google Misled Consumers About Location Data, Regulator Says
April 15 2021 - 11:12PM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Cherney
SYDNEY--An Australian court found that Alphabet Inc.'s Google
misled some consumers about personal-location data collected
through Android mobile devices, the country's competition regulator
said Friday.
The Federal Court said Google misrepresented that the
location-history setting was the only setting that affected whether
Google collected location data, the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission said. In fact, another Google setting called
web and app activity also enabled Google to store location
data.
"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," said ACCC Chair Rod
Sims.
Any penalties will be determined at a later date, the ACCC
said.
A Google spokesperson said the court rejected many of the
regulator's claims and that the tech giant disagreed with the
remaining findings. Google said it is reviewing its options,
including a possible appeal.
"We provide robust controls for location data and are always
looking to do more--for example we recently introduced auto delete
options for location history, making it even easier to control your
data," the spokesperson said.
Write to Mike Cherney at mike.cherney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 15, 2021 22:57 ET (02:57 GMT)
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