Google, under the Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) umbrella, is reportedly facing legal action in Europe over its account sign-up process, which according to claims has favoured configurations that collected the most user data.
The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) insisted the language chosen is “unclear, incomplete and misleading,” which influences less privacy-friendly decisions to be made.
A Google account is required for Android users and is necessary for users to download apps from the Google store.
The European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) states that default settings for users must be set as private but the BEUC insists that Google's one-step process “feed [into] Google’s surveillance activities.”
Ursula Pachl, BEUC deputy director general, commented: "It takes one simple step to let Google monitor and exploit everything you do.
“If you want to benefit from privacy-friendly settings, you must navigate through a longer process and a mix of unclear and misleading options.
"In short, when you create a Google account, you are subjected to surveillance by design and by default [but] privacy protection should be the default and easiest choice for consumers."
The consumer organisation claimed tens of millions of people have been fast-tracked to surveillance after they completed the registration process.
Google, however, insisted that all options are clear and simple for users to comprehend.
The tech giant declined 3.4% to US$2,158 soon after America’s opening on Thursday.
Background
It comes amidst wider scrutiny upon 'big tech' and Google has been targeted as much if not more than most.
In January, some American states sued Google over its location tracking practices that were said to have breached privacy.
The use of 'cookies' to identify, monitor and target users has typically been a focal point for Google's detracted.
Meanwhile, attorney general Karl Racine, recently said: “Google falsely led consumers to believe that changing their account and device settings would allow customers to protect their privacy and control what personal data the company could access.”
In May 2020, Arizona filed a similar lawsuit over its collection of location data of users, with the case still pending.
Later in 2020, attorney generals of many US states sued Google, alleging that it misled publishers and advertisers regarding the price and process of advertising auctions.
Elsewhere, earlier this month, the UK Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would probe breaches of competition law over in-app payments from the Google Play app store. In the United States, there have been similar investigations in recent years.
Pressure has heightened since the turn of the decade on some of Silicon Valley’s largest companies – Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), Amazon.com, Inc and Microsoft Corp – with particular scrutiny on privacy breaches, anti-trust, data security and anti-competitive behaviour.