LONDON: The new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) breach complaints have been filed against Google, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp within hours of the law taking effect.
European privacy group noyb.eu has filed four complaints against the companies over “forced consent”.
The group led by Max Schrems said people were not being given a “free choice”.
The companies have been accused of forcing users to consent in a take it or leave it manner.
Schrems stated “Facebook has even blocked accounts of users who have not given consent. In the end, users only had the choice to delete the account or hit the “agree” button–that’s not a free choice, it more reminds of a North Korean election process.”
If the complaints are accepted by European regulators, Google, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp can face huge combined fines of over €5 billion euros.
GDPR is the newly introduced law that gives citizens of the European Union greater control over how their personal information is is collected and used online.
