Serious accusations against Google: are Android users being monitored illegally?

Google is currently facing a lawsuit from a data protection activist. He accuses the software giant of illegally tracking Android users with advertising IDs without their own consent.

The Viennese data protection activist Max Schrems has filed a lawsuit against Google in France. He accuses the US tech giant of illegally tracking Android phone users without their consent. The Austrian data protection organization Noyb made the announcement on Wednesday, confirming a report in the British daily Financial Times.

Smartphones running Google's Android operating system generate unique advertising IDs that allow Google and third-party vendors to track users' browsing behavior in order to target them with ads. In a complaint to the French data protection authority CNIL, Schrems' privacy organization Noyb argues that Google did not explicitly ask users for permission before creating and storing the advertising codes. These were "illegal operations."

Noyb had previously supported legal action by a private user against the advertising ID on Apple's iPhones (Identifier for Advertisers, IDFA). The case is currently being examined by Austrian and Spanish data protection authorities. The U.S. company has rejected Noyb's accusations as "factually incorrect."

Google: What are the consequences following data protection allegations?

Apple points to far-reaching possibilities to prevent tracking of user behavior for personalized advertising. With the iOS 14.5 operating system, expected in the coming weeks, Apple is further expanding the consent requirement for any form of tracking, which has led to complaints from advertising giants like Facebook.

Noyb now called on the French data protection authority to launch an investigation into Google's tracking practices and force the company to comply with privacy rules. At the same time, the association called on the CNIL to impose fines on Google if the tech giant is found to have engaged in wrongdoing. Schrems stressed that the hidden ID allows Google and all apps on the phone to track users and combine information about online and offline behavior. The use of these trackers clearly requires user consent, which Google does not demand, he said.

Schrems has become known primarily for his dispute with Facebook. In the process, he achieved two spectacular successes before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) that affect the entire exchange of data between the United States and the European Union. In October 2015, the ECJ overturned the EU-US "Safe Harbor" data protection agreement at Schrems' instigation. Last June, Schrems also brought down the successor regulation "Privacy Shield" before the ECJ.

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