Category: Google|Jul 3, 2022 | Author: Admin

"Google pushes users into comprehensive monitoring"

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The Consumer Council believes that "Google is manipulating users to choose the least privacy-friendly options through cunning design and misleading information."

The Consumer Council complains to Google once again
The council explains this in a press release where they reveal that the company has been sued (PDF) "for breach of privacy legislation."

 

It only takes one click to "accept" for the company to monitor you, track you across platforms, and use the information about you in marketing. If you do not accept this, you will be forced into Google's privacy lab, where the danger of opting out of your own rights is great.

 

According to Myrstad, the above quote is not related to Google's promises to take care of its own users. Myrstad also believes that this is a violation of the requirement that privacy must be built-in and activated by default.

 

Here you can change your Google settings:

 

 

The Consumer Council's dispute with Google has been going on for several years
"Everyone who creates a Google Account must make active choices when it comes to sharing and using personal information. This also applies if you use mobile with Android. Not surprisingly, the company suggests that you say "OK" to share as much as possible about yourself, "says the council, which writes that Google abuses with" manipulative design, unclear language, and misleading and hidden choices. "

 

The Consumer Council has been critical of Google for several years, and especially from 2018 onwards

The Council points to this and says that this case is still not finished in the bureaucracy in Ireland:

 

“In 2018, the Consumer Council also complained to Google about similar matters. This complaint is still being processed by the Irish Data Protection Authority, and it is uncertain if and when the complaint will be processed. "

 

- Unfortunately, good regulations do not help much when enforcement in important and principled matters is largely absent. Cases against the technology giants usually end up in Ireland, where the Authority has shown little willingness to enforce the regulations, says Finn Myrstad.

 

This is what Google thinks
In March 2019, we wrote the case "- Users are manipulated to accept that Google can track them around the clock":

Following last year's campaign, which the Consumer Council dubbed "Every step you take", "consumer organizations in eight countries complained to Google to their respective privacy authorities about breaches of European privacy laws", as the organization points out in a new blog post.

 

Now they believe that Google has still not responded properly after they answered the Swedish Data Inspectorate. Furthermore, it is stated that:

“In January, the Data Inspectorate in Sweden began processing the complaint from the Consumer Council's sister organization Sweden's Consumers. Sweden's Consumers and the Consumer Council have now sent a response to Google's statement to the Data Inspectorate. ”

 

You can read Google's response to the allegations, where they believe, among other things, that "the report fails to mention that a significant part of the flow of consent is about giving users information and control over advertising options."

 

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