Google Accused of “Abusive” Conduct in Privacy App Case
Google Accused of “Abusive” Conduct in Privacy App Case
By Ryan Gallagher Yesterday at 5:57 AM
An award-winning company founded by former Google
engineers is taking legal action against the search engine giant over claims it
has engaged in a “pattern of abusive behavior” and is violating privacy rights
on a “massive scale.”
Disconnect, a U.S. firm that designs privacy-enhancing
technology, has filed a complaint with European antitrust regulators after its
Android app was banned from the Google Play Store. The app was designed to
protect smartphone users from invisible tracking and malware distributed
through online advertisements.
The complaint was submitted earlier this month, but the
full allegations were not made public at the time. The Intercept has obtained a
copy of the 104-page complaint, which attacks Google over its claimed
commitment to privacy and accuses the tech titan of trying to stop people from
using the Disconnect app because it poses an “existential threat” to its
revenue sources.
Google’s business, the complaint claims, “consists almost
entirely of gathering data about the preferences, locations, and behavior of
ordinary people and monetizing that data through the sale of targeted
advertisements on the Internet.” Because of this, it alleges, Google is “using
the full weight of its market power to deny users control over tracking, particularly
mobile tracking.”
When you visit a website, usually unbeknown to you, other
websites and services try to connect to your device in the background to
collect data about your browsing habits. The Disconnect app allows users to
view and block these invisible network connections, which the company says
“permit intrusions into the personal privacy of users by facilitating tracking
and the collection of personal information” and “expose users to risks
associated with malware and other forms of cybercrime.” However, some of these
same invisible connections are used to generate advertising revenue, an issue
that appears to be at the root of Google’s decision to crack down on
Disconnect.
Disconnect argues in its complaint:
[I]nvisible, unsolicited tracking is Google’s lifeblood.
The company makes virtually all of its revenue from advertising. Tracking
permits Google to target its ads and, hence, to charge advertisers far more for
ad placement. Indeed, Google is under enormous pressure from the financial
community to increase the “effectiveness” of its tracking, so that it can
increase revenues and profits. Giving a
user the ability to control his own privacy information (and to protect himself
from malware) by blocking invisible connections to problematic sites
constitutes an existential threat to Google.
Google is dismissing Disconnect’s allegations as
“baseless.” A company spokesman told The Intercept that Google Play policies
“have long prohibited apps that interfere with other apps (such as by altering
their functionality, or removing their way of making money). We apply this
policy uniformly — and Android developers strongly support it. All apps must
comply with these policies and there’s over 200 privacy apps available in
Google Play that do.”
However, Disconnect claims that some apps that interfere
with others have in fact been allowed in the Play Store — such as Ghostery’s Ad
Control app — and it says Google turns a blind eye to them because they are
“less effective” at blocking invisible tracking.
“We don’t think our app should be treated differently,
the remedy we’re seeking is equal treatment,” Disconnect’s CEO Casey Oppenheim
told The Intercept. “Google allows many Android apps in the Play Store that
interfere with other apps.”
Google is putting its interest in ad revenues above
protection of its users, Oppenheim alleged, undermining the public’s right to
privacy and ability to protect itself from malware and identity theft.
“Google has built great technologies,” he said, “but it’s
violating consumer privacy rights and creating dangerous security
vulnerabilities on a massive scale.”
Oppenheim, a former consumer-rights advocate and
attorney, co-founded Disconnect in 2011 alongside former Google engineers Brian
Kennish and Austin Chau. The San Francisco, California-based company won the
2015 Interactive Innovation Award for privacy and security at the South by
Southwest Conference and it says its technology is actively used by more than
10 million people.
Disconnect chose to file its complaint against Google in
Europe as opposed to in the United States because European regulators have a
track-record of taking a strong pro-privacy stance, and they also have an
existing antitrust investigation into the tech giant over its Android operating
system.
A spokesperson for the European Commission told The
Intercept that Disconnect’s complaint had been received and was in the process
of being assessed. The Commission could potentially force Google to reinstate
the Disconnect app to the Google Play Store across Europe, which would put
pressure on Google to reintroduce it worldwide. It is unclear when a decision
on the case will be made; the timescale for antitrust investigations can vary
widely, depending on the complexity of the case.
Email the author: ryan.gallagher@theintercept.com
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