Google Accused Of Tracking Users By Austria Advocacy Group, NOYB

Founder of NOYB, Max Schrems (photo; x @LaTribuneEvents ·)

JAKARTA - Google, which is owned by Alphabet's, received complaints from Austrian advocacy group NOYB, on Thursday, June 13 for allegedly tracking users through their Chrome web browser. This issue has come to the attention of EU antitrust regulators.

The US tech giant is in the process of discontinuing the use of third-party cookies advertisers use to track consumers in an effort to protect consumer privacy. Google has introduced a set of tools called Privacy Sandbox to block covert tracking techniques and limit data sharing with third parties, while developers and publishers can measure ads without tracking individual users.

Chrome users are asked whether they want to enable ad privacy features or not to prevent tracking. NOYB (none of your business) says that this feature allows Google to track users in the browser, and that the company must first seek user approval as required by EU privacy rules.

People think they agree with privacy features, but are tricked into accepting Google's first-party ad tracking. Approval should be given in a clear, transparent and fair way to become legal. Google has done exactly the opposite," said NOYB founder Max Schrems, in a statement.

The group on Thursday filed a complaint with Austrian data protection authorities. NOYB has filed many complaints with EU and national privacy watchdogs against major tech companies for allegedly violating privacy.