Google could face fines worth millions after the Federal Court in Australia found that the company misled some Australian mobile and tablet users about how it collects location data.
Google's court case in Australia
According to Reuters, the tech giant was taken to court by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission or ACCC over on-screen representation it made on Android devices in 2017 and 2018.
The case itself centered on two specific Google settings that affected location data collection: the location history, and the web and app activity.
The consumer watchdog in Australia claimed Google misled consumers because if location history was disabled but the latter setting was left on, Google continued to collect and use location data.
The result represents a partial victory for the ACCC because the watchdog identified specific user scenarios that constituted contraventions of consumer law, as per CNBC.
Justice Thomas Thawley stated in his ruling that Google's conduct was misleading and has affected the ordinary users of the service. Google was not straightforward with what the settings would do to a user's device.
Justice Thawley concluded that Google's conduct assessed as a whole conveyed a representation that having web and app activity turned on would not allow Google to obtain, retain, and use personal data about the user's location.
The penalty will be decided at a later date.
However, Google could face a penalty of up to $1.1 million per breach. The court will need to decide what it considers a breach and how many occurred, but ACCC chair Rod Sims stated that they will be seeking a penalty in the "many millions."
Sims stated that he was delighted with the result and said that it was the first ruling in the world in relation to location data issues. It sent a clear message to digital platforms about the need to be up front with consumers.
A Google spokesperson said in a statement that the company is currently reviewing options, including a possible appeal.
The spokesperson said that they provide robust controls for location data and are always looking to do more.
For example, Google recently introduced auto delete options for location history, making it even easier to control user data.
Google's stance
The court heard from experts who are familiar with behavioral economics in order for the court to understand how users approached the task of navigating various screens. The court was told that it involved a cost-benefit analysis and was subject to behavioral biases.
The experts engaged on behalf of the ACCC and Google agreed there was a technological trade-off between privacy and service quality.
The case was run by refrerencing three different scenarios. These included users who set up a Google account for the first time, others who changed their location settings after the initial set up, and those who later considered disabling the web and app setting.
Justice Thawley found Google's conduct would have misled some, but not all reasonable users in the specified categories.
After an Associated Press media article covered the location data and settings issue in Aug. 2018, Google urgently held a meeting.
A Google director circulated documents about what work was being carried out to reduce user confusion.
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Sieeka Khan
