Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Google LLC (No 2) [2022] FCA 1476

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Google LLC (No 2) [2022] FCA 1476

The Commission did not establish the alleged ACL contraventions. Page 1 of the Notification adequately informed reasonable Account Holders that, if they agreed, additional data from their activity on websites and apps that partner with Google would be available in their Google Account and used to tailor ads on websites and apps that partner with Google across signed-in devices. Google was not required to state expressly on page 1 that the changes affected privacy or to discuss pseudonymous data in the detail alleged. The Notification Conduct and Notification Representations cases therefore failed. The June 2016 Privacy Update did not itself authorise Google to combine or use information;...

Jurisdiction
Australia
Judgment Date
09 December 2022
Procedural Posture
Consumer Law Proceeding Alleging Contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law / Final Hearing and Judgment on Originating Application
Outcome
Originating application dismissed; applicant ordered to pay respondent's costs.
Legal Topics
['misleading or Deceptive Conduct' 'false or Misleading Representations' 'conduct Liable to Mislead the Public' 'online Advertising' 'google Account Settings' 'consent Notifications' 'privacy Policy Changes' 'expert Evidence']
['consumer Law' 'competition and Consumer Regulation' 'privacy and Data Use' 'evidence'] ['misleading or Deceptive Conduct' 'false or Misleading Representations' 'conduct Liable to Mislead the Public' 'online Advertising' 'google Account Settings' 'consent Notifications' 'privacy Policy Changes' 'expert Evidence']

Case Brief

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Procedural Posture

Consumer Law Proceeding Alleging Contraventions of the Australian Consumer Law / Final Hearing and Judgment on Originating Application

Legal Issues

  1. 1 ["Whether, by omission, Google's conduct in asking Account Holders for consent through the Notification was misleading or deceptive, likely to mislead or deceive, or liable to mislead the public." 'Whether the Notification failed to inform, or adequately inform, Account Holders that Google sought consent to associate personal information with activity on Third Party Websites and Apps, use that information to generate personalised advertisements for Google Partner Websites and Apps, and deliver those advertisements across Google Services and Google Partner Websites and Apps on any device.' 'Whether Google made false or misleading Notification Representations by representing that it was only seeking consent to turn on new features concerning more visible account information and more relevant advertisements.' "Whether Google reduced Account Holders' rights under its Privacy Policy without explicit consent by the June 2016 Privacy Update or deletion of the DoubleClick Statement." 'Whether the Commission established contraventions of ss 18, 29(1)(g), 29(1)(m) and 34 of the Australian Consumer Law.']

Ratio Decidendi

The Commission did not establish the alleged ACL contraventions. Page 1 of the Notification adequately informed reasonable Account Holders that, if they agreed, additional data from their activity on websites and apps that partner with Google would be available in their Google Account and used to tailor ads on websites and apps that partner with Google across signed-in devices. Google was not required to state expressly on page 1 that the changes affected privacy or to discuss pseudonymous data in the detail alleged. The Notification Conduct and Notification Representations cases therefore failed. The June 2016 Privacy Update did not itself authorise Google to combine or use information;...

Court Disposition

Originating application dismissed; applicant ordered to pay respondent's costs.

Orders

  • ['The originating application be dismissed.' "The applicant pay the respondent's costs."]