OMG (Oh my Google)! Part 3

The ACCC has repeatedly blown our minds in its prosecution of Google for misleading conduct over dodgy privacy disclosures.

When the ACCC first sued Google we freaked out. Then, the ACCC won and we freaked out again. Well, we are freaking out AGAIN because the Federal Court has just hit Google with a $60M penalty.?That’s rather a lot more than you’d ever see in a prosecution under the Privacy Act.

Recap

ACCC sued Google in 2019 for misleading Android users about Google’s data collection and use practices. In 2021, the Federal Court found in the ACCC’s favour in respect of one of their claims. The claim related to two settings that enabled the collection of personal data about a users’ location, the Location History setting and the Web & App Activity setting. Google misled users into believing that changing one setting (including when setting up a Google account and/or at other points when using a device) prevented the collection and use of personal data about the users’ location, when in fact users had to change both settings.

Penalties

There’s always a bit of hocus pocus in penalties assessments. The penalties judgement sets out three categories of contraventions and determined?penalties for each (at $10M, $10M and $40M), taking into consideration the estimated breakdown of users who were subject to each contravention, and placing a lot of emphasis on deterrence.

The judgement also imposes a compliance program on Google in respect of applicable laws, with the usual stuff like training, policies, and reporting. Interestingly, the compliance program also requires that Google’s policies must positively encourage staff to report issues and concerns relating to compliance and prohibit retaliation against staff who raise concerns or participate in investigations.

What does it all mean?

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again, this case brings personal information into the fold of consumer law, where the penalties are (currently) much higher than those under the Privacy Act. Transparency and communication with consumers about your collection and use of their personal information is more important than ever, not just so you’re acting decently, but also because there is a new benchmark for penalties and it’s BIG.

Questions? Give us a call.