Topics
Google | Australia
IANS | Sydney Last Updated at August 13, 2022 01:23 IST
https://mybs.in/2axoidI
The Federal Court in Australia on Friday ordered Google to pay over $40 million in penalties for making misleading representations to consumers about the collection and use of their personal location data on Android phones.
According to Australia's Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), the data was collected between January 2017 and December 2018.
The Court previously found that Google breached the Australian Consumer Law by representing to some Android users that the setting titled "Location History" was the only Google account setting that affected whether Google collected, kept and used personally identifiable data about their location.
In fact, another Google account setting titled "Web & App Activity" also enabled Google to collect, store and use personally identifiable location data when it was turned on, and that setting was turned on by default, the ACCC said in a statement.
"This significant penalty imposed by the Court sends a strong message to digital platforms and other businesses, large and small, that they must not mislead consumers about how their data is being collected and used," said ACCC Chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb.
Personal location data is sensitive and important to some consumers, and "some of the users who saw the representations may have made different choices about the collection, storage and use of their location data if the misleading representations had not been made by Google," Cass-Gottlieb added.
The ACCC estimated that the users of 1.3 million Google accounts in Australia may have viewed a screen found by the court to have breached the Australian Consumer Law.
Google took remedial steps and had addressed all of the contravening conduct by 20 December 2018, meaning that users were no longer shown the misleading screens.
"Companies need to be transparent about the types of data that they are collecting and how the data is collected and may be used, so that consumers can make informed decisions about who they share that data with," Cass-Gottlieb noted.
The ACCC instituted proceedings against Google and Google Australia in October 2019.
In April 2021, the Federal Court found that Google breached the Australian Consumer Law.
–IANS
na/svn/
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
PREVIOUS STORY
NEXT STORY
Copyrights © 2022 Business Standard Private Ltd. All rights reserved.
Upgrade To Premium Services
Business Standard is happy to inform you of the launch of “Business Standard Premium Services”
As a premium subscriber you get an across device unfettered access to a range of services which include:
Premium Services
In Partnership with
Dear Guest,
Welcome to the premium services of Business Standard brought to you courtesy FIS.
Kindly visit the Manage my subscription page to discover the benefits of this programme.
Enjoy Reading!
Team Business Standard