Security News > 2021 > April > Google Broke Australian Law Over Location Data Collection: Court
Google violated Australian law by misleading users of Android mobile devices about the use of their location data, a court ruled Friday in a landmark decision against the global digital giant.
The federal court found that in 2017 and 2018 Google misled some users of phones and tablets featuring its Android operating system by collecting their personally identifiable location information even when they had opted out of sharing "Location History" data.
Various studies around the world have documented the problem of location data being gathered through Android and iPhone devices without users' knowledge or explicit permission.
The ACCC's Sims said Friday's court decision was "The first ruling of its type in the world in relation to these location data issues."
"We provide robust controls for location data and are always looking to do more - for example we recently introduced auto delete options for Location History, making it even easier to control your data," they said.
Last year, Google was targeted alongside Facebook by the ACCC for failing to compensate Australian news organisations for content posted to their platforms.