Australia sues Google for allegedly misleading consumers about location data collection

Australian regulators are taking Google to court.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has filed a lawsuit against Google, accusing the company of misleading consumers about its location data collection practices, The New York Times reports. The regulators allege that through on-screen messages, Google led consumers to believe that disabling the "location history" setting on their Android phone would result in their location data no longer being collected, when another setting actually needed to be turned off as well.

"We are taking court action against Google because we allege that as a result of these on-screen representations, Google has collected, kept and used highly sensitive and valuable personal information about consumers' location without them making an informed choice," ACCC Chair Rod Sims said, per CNN.

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Google misled consumers about this from January 2017 into late 2018, the ACCC alleges. The regulators also allege Google misled consumers by telling them they could only prevent their location data from being collected by not using its services like Google Search and Google Maps, Reuters reports. This comes after a 18-month investigation into tech companies wrapped up earlier this year, and CNN notes its the first major court case to result from it.

The ACCC is calling for "significant penalties" against Google, with Sims also calling for "declarations that the current behavior should not continue." Google told CNN it is reviewing the case and will "defend this matter."