Google is currently under investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) as a recent report that claimed the American tech
giant harvests large amounts of data from Android devices.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission investigates reports about Google harvesting huge amounts of data from Android phones, including detailed location information, after the software company Oracle revealed Google could be harvesting a gigabyte of data from devices each month.
The Australian regulator revealed that Oracle had made a presentation to the ACCC, which is holding an inquiry into digital platforms. The inquiry was prompted by the concerns of Australian media companies about the impact that Google and Facebook are having on the advertising market. According to the Oracle presentation to the ACCC, Android devices send detailed information on searches and what is being viewed. But they can also send precise locations even if location services are turned off, and they do not have a Sim card or apps installed.
The chairman of the ACCC, Rod Sims, has confirmed that Oracle representatives have briefed the regulator on the subject. According to him, "The ACCC met with Oracle and is considering information it has provided about Google services. We are exploring how much consumers know about the use of location data and are working closely with the privacy commissioner".
According to the chairman of Australian Privacy Foundation, David Vaile, "The company initially did this as part of its Street View surveying but it is now kept up-to-date by the huge amount of data that Android device users are routinely sending back".
The chairman of the ACCC, Rod Sims, has confirmed that Oracle representatives have briefed the regulator on the subject. According to him, "The ACCC met with Oracle and is considering information it has provided about Google services. We are exploring how much consumers know about the use of location data and are working closely with the privacy commissioner".
According to the chairman of Australian Privacy Foundation, David Vaile, "The company initially did this as part of its Street View surveying but it is now kept up-to-date by the huge amount of data that Android device users are routinely sending back".
As The Guardian reports, Vaile said users had to realise that Google and Facebook were in the
commercial surveillance business and the heart of their business model
was selling services for advertising purposes. "They are both extremely good at manipulating the law and they use
those legalities," he said. "Their initial approach is to ignore any
potential breaches of privacy and, as we have now seen, when people
notice, their approach is to ask for forgiveness."
Google had made it clear that it saw its future in artificial intelligence, Vaile said. "Google has self-evolving machine-learning algorithms that use this
data being sent from Android devices," he said. "They let them loose on
the data and see what they come up with. Yes, they want to improve their
services but on a competitive basis they want to consolidate their
leadership in AI."
Google is only making profit because there is advertising and because of that there is a need of user's data for targeting the most relevant ads.