Google’s business model is based on illegal, exploitative practices that violate consumers’ rights. Google goes to great lengths to collect as much of its users’ personal data as possible to support its advertising business, which in 2022 generated approximately USD 224 billion in revenue. Google’s outsized profits come at the expense of consumer privacy. Its practices constitute illegal surveillance and illegal exploitation of personal data, with unknown impact on personal lives of its users now and in future. The Stichting Bescherming Privacybelangen finds Google’s disregard for its users’ privacy rights unacceptable and is therefore taking legal action against Google. The Action is supported by Consumentenbond.
Google is the most dominant data company on earth, offering useful and practical products and services to the public. Google’s products and services, such as Google Search, Google Chrome, Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, and smartphones with an Android operating system, are almost impossible to avoid. They have become an essential part of our daily lives. But that does not justify intrusive surveillance.
Google’s consumer tracking takes place on an unprecedented scale – collecting personal data from all consumers who use its products and services. This includes data on location and online activity, which Google collects regardless of users’ preferences. Moreover, Google uses what are known as ‘dark patterns’: design techniques that manipulate users into taking actions that negatively impact their privacy rights, such as unknowingly granting access to their personal data. Google aggregates the personal data it collects to build detailed profiles of consumers’ lives, which it uses to derive products and services it sells to third parties to feed its advertising business. Google also transfers personal data to the United States without sufficient protection from surveillance by the American government.
Google claims that users like you have ‘consented’ to Google’s vast and intrusive collection of personal data, but this ‘consent’ is manufactured, not freely given, and has no legitimate basis in the law. Google conducts its business such that consent from consumers is impossible. Consumers cannot possibly grasp what Google does with their personal data.
See for instance the video of the Norwegian Consumer Group, confronting three Norwegians with their location data: https://www.consumentenbond.nl/acties/zeker-online.
All in all, Google’s illegal ongoing surveillance and exploitation of its users’ personal data, violates their right to privacy and the democratic freedoms that they secure. Privacy and freedom from surveillance are long-established Dutch and European rights and constitute the basis for democratic rule. These fundamental rights preserve the freedom to live and develop independently without being tracked, watched, or manipulated.
Accordingly, Google acts unlawfully and in violation of Dutch and European consumer and data protection law. Specifically, Google’s practices violate applicable privacy laws (such as the AVG) and cookie laws. In addition, Google’s practices constitute an unfair trade practice: users are being misled and in any event not informed properly about Google’s actual practices. Also, Google has been unjustly enriched.
Google must fundamentally change its practices so that it stops violating the rights of its users and no longer violates the law.
To do this, Google must do at least the following:
- drastically change its digital infrastructure by applying effective privacy by design. This means implementing specific technical and organizational measures in Google’s systems so that the processing of users’ personal data is limited to what is strictly necessary and otherwise meets the requirements of applicable laws and these measures put a stop to the illegal surveillance;
- if Google does not introduce adequate additional safeguards, it must stop misleading its users and inform them what specific data Google is collecting, what Google (and any third parties) are doing with it, and with whom Google is sharing all that information;
- establish a legitimate basis for processing personal data. Google currently makes it impossible for users to legally consent to its practices, including the commercial exploitation of their data. Users cannot possibly comprehend what Google does with their data. But at the same time, because of Google’s dominant position, users have virtually no choice but to use Google’s ubiquitous products and services; and
- stop transferring users’ personal data to the United States.
The Foundation is committed to protecting Google users’ right to privacy and ensuring that Google will no longer compromise this right when it collects, processes, stores, and transfers personal data derived from the use of its products, tools, and services. By taking action against Google, the Foundation aims to stop its illegal business practices. In addition, it pursues redress on behalf of all those who have been harmed by Google’s violations of Dutch and European consumer and privacy laws and who are or were domiciled in the Netherlands. For a more precise definition of whom we represent in the Action, visit ‘Aggrieved Parties’ and see also the Foundation’s Articles of Association. The term privacy violations is also defined therein.
The Action is directed against the Google entities Alphabet Inc., Google LLC, Google Ireland Limited, and Google Netherlands B.V. The Foundation has contacted them to engage in meaningful settlement discussions. Google informed the Foundation that, at this stage, it was not prepared to enter into discussions about a settlement that would satisfy the Foundation’s demands. Google indicated that it accepted that this would probably mean that the Foundation would soon initiate these proceedings. On 12 September 2023, the Foundation has initiated proceedings against Google before the Amsterdam District Court. Click here for the Foundation and Consumentenbond’s joint press releases announcing the filing of the writ of summons. For more information about the writ, please see the Extract.