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TWO SEPARATE INQUIRIES have been launched into Google and Tinder by the Data Protection Commission over legal concerns.
The statutory inquires relate to concerns over the legality of each company’s processing of user data in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The DPC said it has received several complaints from consumer organisations in the EU raising concerns over Google’s processing of location data.
The concerns were about the legality and transparency of this processing.
The inquiry wants to establish whether the company has a valid legal basis for processing location data from users, and whether Google meets its obligations about transparency.
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A spokesperson from Google told TheJournal.ie that the company will “cooperate fully” with the DPC in its inquiry.
“People should be able to understand and control how companies like Google use location data to provide services to them,” the spokesperson said.
“In the last year, we have made a number of product changes to improve the level of user transparency and control over location data.”
In terms of the dating app Tinder, the DPC said it has been “actively monitoring” complaints about the app since the GDPR came into effect in May 2018.
Issues raised by people across the EU showed issues relating to the transparency of processing users’ data.
The DPC will seek to determine whether the company has legal basis for processing this data and whether it meets its obligations in terms of transparency and compliance with the GDPR.
Match Group, which owns Tinder, said in a statement: “Transparency and protecting our users’ personal data is of utmost importance to us. We are fully cooperating with the Data Protection Commission, and will continue to abide by GDPR and all applicable laws.”
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Ironic that Googles company motto when founded was “don’t be evil”, but no matter how well intentioned any endeavor, eventually the owners sell out, shareholders take over and the faceless, no individual accountability means they will fu*k you over in any and every way they can imagine to get rich and when the gravy train ends and it all comes tumbling down the architects are long gone.
Data is the new oil, the most valuable commodity on the planet, with enough of it you can do virtually anything.
Won’t have to worry about them soon. What with the UK now out of the EU, GDPR doesn’t apply to them, so it’ll make sense for the likes of Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc to relocate over there, where the UK government will welcome them with open arms and they won’t have Data Commissioners up their ar5e.
@DJ François: If they are in a jurisdiction outside of the EU they can tell the EU where to stick their €20m or 4% of global turnover award! Tech & internet companies can be located anywhere in the world to provide their services. If UK is smart, it will drop its Corporation tax to 12% or lower, hype up that GDPR no longer applies, if SF get near power in the Republic and follow through on their tax the multinationals promise, the tech giants will be out of here like butter off a hot knife. When you look at it with Johnson, Brexit and the left surge this general election is shaping up into, Ireland is facing a perfect storm regarding the multinationals we rely so much on.
Is this not just PR following the comment from Germany’s federal data commissioner reported yesterday? There seems to be more investigations started than complete. In fairness, it must be difficult conducting fair personal data processing investigations in these types of companies.
General Data Protection Regulations are a more significant threat to free speech than political correctness.
The onus is now on the person seeking information to prove that they have a right to access it, the authorities are using General Data Protection Regulations like a sword rather than a shield. A lot of information previously available to all is no longer accessible, making researchers work more awkward and expensive to carry out. We need a right to access information similar to that available to all citizens of the USA.
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