Google hit with more privacy complaints for “deceptive” sign-up process

More than a billion people worldwide have signed up for an account with the search engine. This week, European Union consumer rights groups issued new privacy complaints suggesting that the opposite is true, that Google intentionally designs default settings to deceive new users into granting permission to harvest and share a broad swath of personal information.

The European consumer organization BEUC said that the language used by the search engine was unclear, incomplete and misleading. A civil lawsuit in Germany is one of the things BEUC is helping to coordinate.

There are complaints about how hard it is for account users to choose privacy friendly options. Consumer groups argue that setting up an account to share personal info is easier than protecting it. The one-click personalization option requires 10 clicks to turn it off, while the manual personalization option requires a single click.

There is no wrongdoing because the options are clearly labelled and designed to be easy to understand, according to a spokesman for the search engine. They were based on extensive research and feedback from testers.

There are plans to change the sign-up process.

Do better

BEUC believes that the internet giant could do more.

According to the deputy director-general of BEUC, tens of millions of Europeans have been placed on a fast track to be surveilled when they sign up to a Google account. It takes one simple step to allow the internet search engine to monitor your activities.

She said that privacy protection should be the default choice for consumers.

More privacy complaints dating back four years and past fines by EU antitrust regulators amount to more than $8 billion, according to BEUC. The tech company could be fined up to 2% of its global turnover if found guilty of violating EU privacy rules.

The new complaints from consumer rights groups are expected to put pressure on regulators to act. BEUC is trying to make sure that account holders are aware of how their data is used.

If you create a new account by default, you will be given permission to save web and app activity, including their entire history and use of GOOGLE SERVICES, to personalize ads. Users are told on the Privacy and Terms page that they are in control, with more options to turn off certain settings.

According to the EU data protection law, the General Data Protection Regulation, the EU complaints will continue until Google accounts are no longer subject to surveillement by design and by default.