MADRID, Dec 20 — A Spanish consumer rights association yesterday said it had launched preliminary legal action against Google for allegedly collecting sensitive personal data and violating their right to privacy.

The Association of Communication Users (AUC) says the US tech giant collected data about users’ personal opinions, religion, sexuality and health through applications and the Android operating system, supporting their claim with a study by a Dublin-based university professor.

“Technology and the desire to provide a service have taken precedence over putting in place safeguards to protect people’s privacy,” AUC secretary general Bernardo Hernandez told AFP.

“The issue of privacy is extremely scandalous because not even the bare minimum is protected,” he added, saying Google could have provided the same services without unnecessarily collecting “an excessive amount of data”.

The AUC said it had asked Madrid courts to collect the names of Google and Android product users, estimating that up to 37 million people in Spain could be affected.

It is a prior step to presenting a collective lawsuit against Google Spain and Google Ireland as well as calculating how much compensation to demand, for which an expert report is being prepared.

A Google spokesperson said allegations that Android was a mass surveillance tool were “wrong” and that the courts should dismiss the AUC’s request for “massive intrusion”.

“This lawsuit is wrongly trying to protect user privacy while demanding the personal data of millions of people without their consent to prepare speculative class actions,” the spokesperson said.

Last month, a Spanish court ordered fellow US tech giant Meta to pay local media outlets €479 million (RM2.2 billion) in compensation for breaching EU data protection rules and engaging in unfair competition. — AFP