Court rules Google misled consumers about data settings on mobile devices

*The Australian court says its decision ‘sends a strong message to Google and others that big businesses must not mislead their customers’

*We disagree with the remaining findings, and are currently reviewing our options, including a possible appeal, says a Google Spokesperson

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

For claiming the device could only collect personal data when “location history” settings turned on, Australia’s Federal court has ruled that Google misled consumers about location data settings on their Android mobile devices between 2017 and 2018.

The country’s Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Friday, April 16 ruled it discovered that Google improperly led consumers to believe that it could only collect personal data if users had “location history” settings turned on.

However, the ACCC found that Google could still collect, store, and use consumers’ location data if the setting for “web and application activity” was on, agency report said.

The Court said: “When consumers created a new Google Account during the initial set-up process of their Android device, Google misrepresented that the ‘Location History’ setting was the only Google Account setting that affected whether Google collected, kept or used personally identifiable data about their location.”

In respect of online privacy victory, the regulator said the ruling was an “important victory for consumers”, especially those who are concerned about their digital privacy. The court said its decision “sends a strong message to Google and others that big businesses must not mislead their customers.”

Besides fining Google an undisclosed sum of money, the ACCC said it would be “seeking an order for Google to publish a notice to Australian consumers to better explain Google’s location data settings in the future.”

However, Google in a statement in a statement said it disagreed with many of the court’s claims and that it is considering appealing.

“We disagree with the remaining findings and are currently reviewing our options, including a possible appeal,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

The tech giant noted that it has “robust controls for location data,” including a recently introduced “auto delete” feature for Location History and an incognito mode in its Maps product.