CANBERRA: The ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry has led to the advance of “ many investigations”, ACCC chair Rod Sims has told a Committee for Economic Development Australia event.
“As outlined in the final report of our 2019 Digital Platforms Inquiry, the ACCC has concerns about consumers being misled over the collection and the use of their personal data, as well as a range of important competition issues, some also linked to data,” Sims said.
He said considerable resources are needed with the encroachment of data issues in our lives and their effect on economic activity.
“The Federal Government has now funded the establishment of a permanent digital platforms branch at the ACCC to ensure proactive scrutiny of the sector,” Sims said.
Sims pointed to one case already sparked by the Digital Platforms Inquiry and before the Federal Court over Google’s treatment of privacy in the Android mobile operation system.
The ACCC launched legal action on this matter in October last year, arguing that Android users were being misled by Google’s treatment of location data generated by mobile devices.
Sims also said the ACCC had intervened in a number of cases where fraudsters had falsely claimed to raise frunds for coronavirus victims.
