Consumers Council: – Google manipulates users



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The Consumer Council believes that Google handles users for continuous surveillance purposes and complains to the data protection authority for violation of privacy legislation.

Android users are being manipulated to perform continuous tracking via specular design, misleading information and repetitive masking, said the Consumer Council which reported Tuesday a report on the subject.

According to the report, Google tracks its users through the "Location History" and "Web Activity and Applications" settings, which are part of all Google Accounts. It's particularly difficult to avoid tracking for Android phone users, such as Samsung and Huawei, according to the Consumer Council.

More techniques

According to the Consumer Council, Google uses several techniques to get consumers to accept tracking.

These include manipulative click links, hidden default settings, misleading and unbalanced information, hidden and matched services, and lack of graduated choices.



Senior Vice President, Consumer Council, Gro Mette Moen. Photo: Ole Walter Jacobsen

"Google deals with huge amounts of location information, which, in our opinion, was collected without legal authorization by manipulating users," said Groettete Moen, executive vice president in charge of consumerism.

When we bring the phone, Google can know where we are going, what floor we are on and how we are moving. This information can be combined with, for example, what we are looking for and the websites we visit.

"Based on the findings of the report" Every step you take ", the Consumer Council and seven other European consumer organizations will now appeal Google for breach of European privacy policy," said Moen.

– Read carefully

The full report was read by Google and Google's head of press in Norway, Helle Skjevold, told the NRK in a statement:

– The location history is deactivated and you can change, delete or pause at any time. If you choose to activate it, this will help improve services such as traffic information on your shuttle route. If you pause it, we specify that we can always retrieve and use location data to improve your Google experience based on your phone and app settings.

– We also give you the ability to control your location data in a variety of ways, including a Google setting called Web & App Activity and on your device. We are constantly working to improve our parameters and we will read this report carefully to see if there are things we can change, she adds.

Here's how to disable all tracking

This feature must be disabled if you want to disable position tracking.

If you want to disable all tracking of location from today, you need to disable it a little more crypticallyweb activity and application"In addition to Google's location history.

This does not mean just shouting for the latter, as you might think.

One of the best ways to do this is to access myaccount.google.com/activitycontrols, where you disable the disabling of web and app activity in addition to placement history.

But you are followed anyway

If you do not like someone to know where you are or what you have been, you can still keep in mind that it's not just Google who is interested in knowing where you are and partly what you do.

Telecommunication companies also like to know where you went. Image: Are Samsonsen Thunes, Akam.no

After all, we who carry a mobile phone are constantly being monitored and registered by telecommunications companies, and even "safe metadata" can say a lot about what we do. And unlike Google, it's not something we can choose to turn off or continue.

In addition, telecommunications companies have a shorter time horizon than Google:
The mobile operator can store data for up to three months

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