On Wednesday 13th February 2019 A French court has ordered Google to remove “abusive” clauses from the service conditions it requires consumers to accept to the internet giant’s services.
According to a group called UFC-Que Choisir, which has waged a five-year legal battle against Google for “abusive” practices in its service conditions, also won 30,000 euros ($34,000) in damages. Although Google has appealed the ruling by the Paris district level court, it is imminent that the appeal might not be in its favor.
Also, Google affirmed that the ruling concerned its Google+ social media service, which is being shut down in April 2018 and that it is striving to improve the clarity and simplicity of its user terms. The company disclosed that it would take its time to examine the decision and evaluate the most appropriate options.
UFC-Que Choisir stressed that the judges ordered Google to rework its terms and conditions to obtain clear consent from users on how it collects and shares their personal information. This includes the constant monitoring of users’ location.
In the same vein, the ruling also informed Google that it could not imply that users had to accept the conditions to use its services and systematically decline all responsibility in case of malfunctions.
The development follows one in a similar case brought by UFC-Que Choisir against Twitter. It was gathered that there is a case of this type against Facebook, which is still underway.
