The Italian Competition Authority has launched an investigation into Google and its parent company Alphabet for sending users a request for consent to the "linking" of the services offered. This request appears to provide no relevant information - or to provide incomplete and inaccurate information - about the actual effect that consent has on Google's use of users' personal information. The same critical issues would exist in terms of the variety and quantity of Google services that allow for "combined" and "cross-linked" use of personal data, as well as the possibility of modulating (and thus limiting) consent to specific services. According to the Authority, Google would also use techniques and methods for submitting consent requests, as well as building mechanisms for collecting consent itself, which could limit the average consumer's freedom of choice. The customer would be induced to make a commercial decision that he would not have made otherwise, consenting to the combined and cross-use of his personal data across the variety of services provided.
|