Aussie Agency Accuses Google of Misleading Consumers
August 19, 2020
Our beloved Google misleading consumers? Say it isn’t so! The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) announces: “ACCC Alleges Google Misled Consumers About Expanded Use of Personal Data.” The commission has begun federal court proceedings against the company, saying it failed to adequately notify users about a change made to its privacy policy in 2016. Basically, it swapped out the promise, “We will not combine DoubleClick cookie information with personally identifiable information unless we have your opt in consent,” for the sentence, “Depending on your account settings, your activity on other sites and apps may be associated with your personal information in order to improve Google’s services and the ads delivered by Google.” To those who do not follow developments in the world of data, that sounds like a neutral thing at worst, perhaps even helpful. However, the post explains:
“Before June 2016, Google only collected and used, for advertising purposes, personally identifiable information about Google account users’ activities on Google owned services and apps like Google Search and YouTube. After June 2016, when consumers clicked on the ‘I agree’ notification, Google began to collect and store a much wider range of personally identifiable information about the online activities of Google account holders, including their use of third-party sites and apps not owned by Google. Previously, this additional data had been stored separately from a user’s Google account. Combined with the personal data stored in Google accounts, this provided Google with valuable information with which to sell even more targeted advertising, including through its Google Ad Manager and Google Marketing Platform brands. The ACCC alleges that the ‘I agree’ notification was misleading, because consumers could not have properly understood the changes Google was making nor how their data would be used, and so did not – and could not – give informed consent.”
As ACCC Chair Rod Sims points out, these third-party sites can include some “very sensitive and private information.” He also takes an interesting perspective—since Google is raking in more ad revenue from this personal data, and users essentially pay for its services with their data, the policy change amounted to an inadequately announced price hike. See the article for details on how Google implemented these changes in 2016.
We’re reminded Google acquired ad-serving firm DoubleClick in 2008, but it has since referred to the system as simply “Google technology” in its privacy policy. The technology tracks users all over the web to provide more personalized, and lucrative, advertising. With some imagination, though, one can think of many more uses for this information. Users should certainly be aware of the implications.
Cynthia Murrell, August 18, 2020
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