Australian Regulator sues Google over expanded Personal Data use

Competition Regulator of Australia has begun Court proceedings against Alphabet’s Google for allegedly misleading consumers about the expanded use of personal data for targeted advertising.

The case by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) in Federal Court said Google didn't explicitly get consent nor properly inform consumers about a 2016 move to combine personal information in Google accounts with activities on non-Google websites that use its technology.

The Competition Regulator said this practice allowed the Alphabet Inc unit to link the names & other ways to identify consumers with their behaviour elsewhere on the internet.

Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission comes amid heightened attention in much of the world on data privacy. US & European lawmakers have recently stepped up their focus on how tech companies treat user data due to privacy concerns.

ACCC Chairman Rod Sims in a statement said that “We are taking this action because we consider 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".

The regulator alleges Google used the combined data to boost targeted advertising - a key source of income - & that it didn't make clear to consumers about changes in its privacy policy.

The regulator didn't say what it wanted the court to do, adding that it has filed the claim on a “confidential basis pending claims by Google.”

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