Yahoo Finance Google investigated over massive data collection that could be costing consumers 'millions'
Google is being investigated over claims smartphone owners are footing a bill for the tech giant to harvest their location data, potentially costing consumers millions.
The Australian Competition Commission is looking into concerns raised by software giant Oracle, that Google is harvesting up to a gigabyte of information every month, which could equate to millions for Australian bill-payers alone.
The accusations shed light on the scope of Google’s data collection through its Android operating system, which can be found on most phones on the market.
Oracle made the claims in a report sent to the competition watchdog and seen by Sydney-based newspaper The Australian.
Location services on smartphones are powered by GPS, which is free to use as it does not require internet connectivity. However Android phones send location data - along with other personal data - back to Google’s servers, which incurs a data cost if the person is not connected using Wi-Fi.
There are currently no regulations in place to monitor data-hungry apps and operating systems in the UK. Ofcom, the telecoms and broadcast regulator said that it was not investigating the matter but advised customers who think they were being unfairly charged to contact their provider. The UK's own Competition and Markets Authority is not actively investigating the claims.
A Google spokesman said: “Google is completely focused on protecting our users’ data while making the products they love work better for them. Users can see what data is collected and how it’s used in one easy place, My Account, and control it all from there. Users can choose to use Google’s Location Service on Android devices to provide a network-based location. They are free to disable Google’s Location Service at any time, and the data this service sends back to Google’s location servers is anonymised.”
Since 2017, Google began accessing smartphone owners whereabouts even if they had switched location off by collecting the addresses of nearby cell masts. The search giant said it would put an end to the practice shortly after it brought to light in November last year.
