Consumer associations from five European countries, including France, have filed complaints against Google with national data protection authorities, the European Bureau of Consumer Unions (BEUC) said on Thursday.
These organizations (also based in Greece, Norway, the Czech Republic and Slovenia) accuse the US giant of inducing “extensive and invasive processing” of their personal data when users create their accounts, in violation of the European General Data Protection Regulation. (GDPR). Associations in three other countries (Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden) wrote to their national regulatory authorities about this, and the German VZBV organization sent a warning letter to Google, BEUC reports.
“Many reports indicating violations by Google” in the enforcement of the RGPD
Creating a Google Account “takes a step to authorize Google to monitor and operate everything you do. If you want to use the first privacy settings, you are faced with a long process and unclear and confusing options,” said BEUC Deputy Director General Ursula Pachl. “Privacy should be the default and easiest choice for consumers,” he argued. BEUC points out that consumers are sometimes required to create a Google account, for example when they buy a smartphone using the Android system, which applies to almost 7 out of 10 devices worldwide, if they want to download apps from the Google Play Store.
The French association UFC-Que Choisir said that, like its European counterparts, it had “received numerous reports indicating violations of the GDPR application by Google” and forwarded the user’s complaint to the Commission Informatique et Libertés (Cnil). Google, on the other hand, assures that the options offered to users when creating an account are “clearly presented and easy to understand.” “We developed them based on the results of extensive research and guidelines from data protection authorities, as well as feedback from user tests,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We are committed to making those choices simple and clear,” he added. In France, Google was fined €150 million by the data protection police Cnil in December 2021 for its practices regarding “cookies,” these digital trackers used for specifically targeted advertising.
Source: Le Figaro
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