Dutch petition against Google's location tracking gets 50,000 signatures

Dutch consumers' association Consumentenbond handed Google a petition against the company's location tracking with over 50 thousand signatures. This petition forms part of a joint action by seven consumer associations in Europe, Consumentenbond announced on Monday, NU.nl reports.

The organizations are protesting against the collection of location data from Android phones. According to research by Norwegian consumer organization Forbrukerradet, Google did not ask Android users for permission in the right way. Companies must explicitly request permission for the collection of location data, according to the organizations. By not doing so, Google is in violation of the General Data Protection Regulation - the European privacy law.

The consumer organizations filed a complaint with national privacy regulators regarding this matter.

In a response, Google said the company finds it important "that users understand how and why we collect data and what privacy settings there are so that they can make conscious choices". Google says it is working hard on improving its privacy settings.