Google found not compliant with AVG when registering new accounts – sends the data to 70 services without user knowledge

According to a ruling by the Berlin Regional Court, Google must disclose to its users which of its more than 70 services process their data when they register for an account. The civil chamber thus upheld a lawsuit filed by the German Association of Consumer Organizations (vzbv). The consumer advocates had complained that neither the “express personalization” nor the alternative “manual personalization” complied with the legal requirements of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The ruling against Google Ireland Ltd. was handed down on March 25, 2025, but was only published on Friday (case number 15 O 472/22). The decision is not yet legally binding because the internet company has appealed the ruling. Google stated that it disagrees with the Regional Court’s decision.

What does Google process data for?

The consumer advocates argued that consumers must know what Google processes their data for when registering. Users must be able to freely decide how their data is processed. The judges at the Berlin Regional Court confirmed this legal opinion. The ruling states: “In this case, transparency is lacking simply because the defendant does not provide information about the individual Google services, Google apps, Google websites, or Google partners for which the data is to be used.” For this reason, the scope of consent is completely unknown to the user.

Google: Account creation has changed

Google stated that the ruling concerned an old account creation process that had since been changed. “What hasn’t changed is our commitment to enabling our users to use Google on their terms, with clear choices and control options based on extensive research, testing, and guidelines from European data protection authorities,” it stated. In the proceedings, Google argued that listing all services would result in excessively long text and harm transparency. This argument was rejected by the court. In the court’s view, information about the scope of consent is among the minimum details required by law. The regional court was particularly concerned that with “Express Personalization,” users only had the option of consenting to all data usage or canceling the process. A differentiated refusal was not possible. Even with “Manual Personalization,” consumers could not refuse the use of the German location.

Source: Landgericht Berlin: Google-Accounterstellung verletzte DSGVO | heise online

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