Google

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.

Consumers' association Consumentenbond filed a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority against Google. According to the union, Google 'tricks' Android users into giving permission for their smartphones' location to be used, which is against the law, ANP reports.

Research by Consumentenbond showed that 54% of Dutch Android users have the function 'web&app' enabled. This is used to keep track of location history. The majority of these users did not know that this option was activated, the Dutch association said. 

Google's smart assistant can speak Dutch from Thursday. The roll-out of the Dutch version of Google Assistant started at 6:00 a.m. and should be completed within a week, a spokesperson for the tech giant confirmed to NU.nl.

Android devices will get automatic access in the coming days, provided they have Android 6.0 or higher installed. Apple users will be able to download the assistant "within a few days", as soon as Apple approves the update in the app store. 

Google is going to expand its data center in Eemshaven, Groningen and is investing another 500 million euros in the complex, a spokesperson for the internet giant confirmed to NU.nl.

People in the Netherlands extraordinarily often searched for information about murdered Anne Faber this year. Her name is in 1st place on a list of most trending search terms in the Netherlands in 2017, which Google released today.

Solar park Sunport, the largest solar park in the Netherlands, will help power Google's data center. Power company Eneco and Google signed an agreement to that effect, Eneco announced on Friday. Both the solar park and data center are located in Eemshaven, NU.nl reports.

Sunport consists of 123 thousand solar panels on 30 hectares of ground. It generates about 27 gigawatt hours of solar power annually, enough to power 7,700 homes for a year. 

Google parent company Alphabet turned heads last week with the announcement of a sleek new smartwatch from its life sciences subsidiary Verily. Though not planned for the consumer market, the Verily Study Watch will be part of a joint research project between the firm and Radboud University in Nijmegen to examine the effect of multiple factors on the progression of Parkinson’s disease.

The televised election debate in the Carre theater in Amsterdam on Sunday led to peaked interest in GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver. After the debate Klaver became the most Googled Dutch politician, taking the number one spot from PVV leader Geert Wilders, RTL Nieuws reports.

Wilders is now in second place, followed by VVD leader Mark Rutte and 50Plus leader Henk Krol. 

A group of 80 technology companies from Silicon Valley in the United States wrote Prime Minister Mark Rutte a letter in May warning him of the consequences a deterioration in the Netherlands' tax climate will have, the Financieele Dagblad reports. The companies fear that a tougher approach from the Netherlands on multinational companies' tax avoidance will make the country less attractive for U.S. investors.

While it’s no doubt that the advent of a wide variety of online maps and apps have saved time for millions, it has also lead to surprising ways of wasting time. Once user of website VKMag found this out when searching for Hereweg 87, Groningen, on Google Streetview only to find a picture of a naked man clad in socks with what appears to be a six-pack of Heineken at his feet.

Google is helping Brabant revenge porn victim Chantal remove search results involving her name. A sex tape of her and an ex that was posted on Facebook last year is still popping up in search results when her name is googled, causing harm in her personal and work life