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Google Taken to Court by ACCC for 'Misleading Consumers on Targeted Ads'
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Google taken to court by ACCC for 'misleading consumers on targeted ads' [smh.com.au]:
The competition watchdog has launched Federal Court proceedings against Google alleging the tech giant misled Australian consumers about how their personal data was collected and used to improve its advertising service.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced on Monday it had commenced proceedings claiming Google failed to properly inform consumers and did not get their explicit informed consent to expand the scope of personal information that it could collect and combine a user's activity on non-Google sites with the information on their Google accounts.
Google disputes the allegations and said it intends to defend its position.
The ACCC alleges that in 2016 Google started combining personal information in consumer Google accounts with information about user activities on non-Google sites, which used Google technology, formerly DoubleClick technology, to display ads.
The ACCC alleges that in 2016 Google started combining personal information in consumer Google accounts with information about user activities on non-Google sites, which used Google technology, formerly DoubleClick technology, to display ads.
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The data collected on non-Google online activity was linked to user names and other identifying information already held by Google. The tech giant subsequently used this newly combined information to improve the commercial performance of its advertising businesses, the regulator alleges.
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ACCC chair Rod Sims said the watchdog was taking legal action because it considered Google misled Australian consumers about what it planned to do with large amounts of their personal information, including internet activity on websites not connected to Google.
"Google significantly increased the scope of information it collected about consumers on a personally identifiable basis," Mr Sims said. "This included potentially very sensitive and private information about their activities on third party websites. It then used this information to serve up highly targeted advertisements without consumers’ express informed consent."
A spokesperson for Google said the tech giant updated its ad systems and associated user controls in June 2016 to match the way people use Google products across many different devices.
"The changes we made were optional and we asked users to consent via prominent and easy-to-understand notifications," the spokesperson said. "If a user did not consent, their experience of our products and services remained unchanged. We have cooperated with the ACCC’s investigation into this matter. We strongly disagree with their allegations and intend to defend our position."
More to come
License this article [copyright.com.au]
- Information security [smh.com.au]
- Google [smh.com.au]
- ACCC [smh.com.au]
- Rod Sims [smh.com.au]
Cara Waters [smh.com.au]
Cara is the small business editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald based in Melbourne
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The data collected on non-Google online activity was linked to user names and other identifying information already held by Google. The tech giant subsequently used this newly combined information to improve the commercial performance of its advertising businesses, the regulator alleges.
Loading
ACCC chair Rod Sims said the watchdog was taking legal action because it considered Google misled Australian consumers about what it planned to do with large amounts of their personal information, including internet activity on websites not connected to Google.
"Google significantly increased the scope of information it collected about consumers on a personally identifiable basis," Mr Sims said. "This included potentially very sensitive and private information about their activities on third party websites. It then used this information to serve up highly targeted advertisements without consumers’ express informed consent."
A spokesperson for Google said the tech giant updated its ad systems and associated user controls in June 2016 to match the way people use Google products across many different devices.
"The changes we made were optional and we asked users to consent via prominent and easy-to-understand notifications," the spokesperson said. "If a user did not consent, their experience of our products and services remained unchanged. We have cooperated with the ACCC’s investigation into this matter. We strongly disagree with their allegations and intend to defend our position."
More to come
License this article [copyright.com.au]
- Information security [smh.com.au]
- Google [smh.com.au]
- ACCC [smh.com.au]
- Rod Sims [smh.com.au]
Cara Waters [smh.com.au]
Cara is the small business editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald based in Melbourne
LoadingLoadingAdvertisementAdvertisement
The data collected on non-Google online activity was linked to user names and other identifying information already held by Google. The tech giant subsequently used this newly combined information to improve the commercial performance of its advertising businesses, the regulator alleges.
Loading
ACCC chair Rod Sims said the watchdog was taking legal action because it considered Google misled Australian consumers about what it planned to do with large amounts of their personal information, including internet activity on websites not connected to Google.
"Google significantly increased the scope of information it collected about consumers on a personally identifiable basis," Mr Sims said. "This included potentially very sensitive and private information about their activities on third party websites. It then used this information to serve up highly targeted advertisements without consumers’ express informed consent."
A spokesperson for Google said the tech giant updated its ad systems and associated user controls in June 2016 to match the way people use Google products across many different devices.
"The changes we made were optional and we asked users to consent via prominent and easy-to-understand notifications," the spokesperson said. "If a user did not consent, their experience of our products and services remained unchanged. We have cooperated with the ACCC’s investigation into this matter. We strongly disagree with their allegations and intend to defend our position."
More to come
License this article [copyright.com.au]
- Information security [smh.com.au]
- Google [smh.com.au]
- ACCC [smh.com.au]
- Rod Sims [smh.com.au]
Cara Waters [smh.com.au]
Cara is the small business editor for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald based in Melbourne
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