Google Under Fire for ‘Misleading and Aggressive’ Data Practices

Google is not being fully transparent with users about how linked Google services let the tech giant track user behavior and serve them ads, according to Italy’s competition regulator.

In the EU, Google services like YouTube, Search, Google Play, and Chrome have been separated from each other since March due to the region’s Digital Markets Act (DMA). Google is still asking users to link their different services together just like before; in Europe, they can choose to opt in.

But Italy doesn’t think its residents are getting a clear or comprehensive enough explanation from Google on how the tech firm is using their information when services are linked. In fact, the Italian Competition Authority calls Google’s framing of how it uses data “a misleading and aggressive commercial practice” and suspects that if Google was being more transparent, fewer users would ultimately consent to service linking.

Google presents “inadequate, incomplete and misleading information” and uses other unspecified techniques that “could condition the freedom of choice of the average consumer,” the regulator says. But users who opt in to the linking can unlink them by navigating through those Data & Privacy settings to “Linked Google Services.”

According to a screenshot shared on Reddit, Google has prompted users to consent to linking with just a few vague sentences in four bullet points. When it comes to ads, Google simply says linking will “measure and improve the delivery of ads.”

Google’s privacy policy doesn’t provide much concrete information, however, and instead offers a broad-strokes perspective peppered with a handful of examples. It confirms that EU users’ linking choices will impact “how certain Google services can use the data across our services,” but doesn’t provide further details or more specific information on how exactly Google is using customer data to build or improve its own products. Ads make up a majority of its revenue.

In the US, users don’t get the option to unlink Google services; all data is collected and linked under one account. A linked account allows Google to better assess who you are as a consumer and internet user—and use all of that information to serve targeted ads. You can see a slice of how much Google is tracking you online by navigating to your Google Account, viewing the Data & Privacy tab, and then scrolling down to the “My Activity” button. US users can turn off personalized ads by navigating to Google Account > Data & Privacy > My Ad Center.

PCMag has reached out to Google for comment.