Australian Competition Regulator Court Rejects Lawsuit Against Google Regarding the Use of Personal Data

JAKARTA - Australia's competition regulator said on Friday, December 9 that its lawsuit against Alphabet Inc's Google accusing consumers of being misled about expanding the use of personal data for targeted advertising has been dismissed by a court.

The proceedings, initiated by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission in July 2020, accuse Google did not explicitly receive consent from users about changes it made in 2016 that combined personal information in Google accounts with activity on non-Google sites that use its technology to display ads.

The Federal Court found that notifications that allow users to accept policy changes are not misleading. "Google only implements measures with (user's) informed consent," the regulator said.

"The court also noted that Google did not diminish the account holder's rights under the privacy policy," the Regulator added.

Google Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters about the report. However, this court decision is a victory for Google.