Australia: ACCC files lawsuit against Google for allegedly misleading consumers about expanded use of personal data

On 27 July 2020, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that the company misled users in order to obtain their consent to expand the personal data it collects. The ACCC claims Google has not properly informed its users that the company will start combining the data in consumers’ Google accounts with the information collected from non-Google websites that use Google technology. The decision makes that the data collected on one individual from third-party websites would be linked to an individual user. The ACCC alleges that Google misled consumers in regards to their privacy policy change and failed to obtain “explicit informed consent” from users.