Google needs a rights-respecting approach as court says its Adtech is a monopoly
PICTURE: SHOX Art/Pexels
Responding to a US court ruling declaring Google’s online advertising monopoly illegal, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said: ‘A rights respecting break-up of Google’s monopolistic hold could be an important first step towards an online world that respects human rights.’
‘By eroding the dominance of a single corporation and weakening Google’s control over our data, it makes space that must be filled by actors committed to upholding human rights.
‘Google’s current model thrives on harvesting, analysing, sharing with others and profiting from people’s personal data,’ said Callamard. ‘This toxic, surveillance-based approach – shared by other Big Tech companies including Meta and TikTok – undermines the right to privacy and has given Google sheer market dominance, leaving no space for alternatives which respect our rights.
Read ‘Media partners present joint submission to Media and Digital Platforms Market Inquiry’, here
‘As the world’s most used search engine, Google wields enormous power over whether people can navigate the Internet with assurance that their rights are protected. Every company has a responsibility to respect human rights, and Google has failed to adequately demonstrate how its model can uphold users’ rights.
‘It is extremely difficult to go online without having to hand over personal data to Google and other big tech companies, even when you have not signed up for their services or consented to this intrusion and monetisation of your private data’
‘Now that Google’s advertising services have been ruled an illegal monopoly, it is time to move toward a rights-respecting structural break-up of Google.’
Background
The US Department of Justice accused Google of market manipulation to maintain dominance and exclude competitors in the online advertising technology market, which does not allow for a rights-respecting alternative to become available to users.
In 2016, Google changed its privacy policy to allow data integration across its marketing platforms. This change allowed it to tailor advertisements to individuals, based on highly personal information mined in the background of their online usage.
The US Department of Justice alleges that Google controls 87% of the US advertising market. In a competitive market, Internet users could likely reject such privacy intrusions, but a lack of alternative service providers leaves them with no choice but to accept Google’s harvesting and profiting of user data.
The US Department of Justice recently won another anti-trust case against Google. A judge in Washington, D.C., ruled that Google had illegally monopolised the online search market and a decision on the proposed remedies is pending in both cases, including requiring Google to be broken up.
A related case on Google’s adtech in the EU is awaiting a judgement and another lawsuit has been launched in the UK.
