Irish regulator launches probe into Google and Tinder
The Irish data regulator has opened inquiries into the way Google and Tinder handle users’ data.
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) said it had received complaints relating to both companies from individuals across the European Union.
Match Group, which owns the online dating platform Tinder, will be investigated for the “ongoing processing of users’ personal data with regard to its processing activities in relation to the Tinder platform”.
A spokesperson for Match Group said: “Transparency and protecting our users’ personal data is of utmost importance to us. We are fully cooperating with the Data Protection Commission, and will continue to abide by GDPR and all applicable laws.”
Google will be investigated separately for its processing of location data.
A spokesperson for Google said: “People should be able to understand and control how companies like Google use location data to provide services to them.”
“We will cooperate fully with the office of the Data Protection Commission in its inquiry, and continue to work closely with regulators and consumer associations across Europe. In the last year, we have made a number of product changes to improve the level of user transparency and control over location data.”
Google also faced criticism today after it was forced to alert some of its users that their private videos were inadvertently sent to strangers.
“Unfortunately, during this time, some videos in Google Photos were incorrectly exported to unrelated users’ archives,” the firm said.
Companies can be fined €20m (£17m) or up 4 per cent of a company’s global revenue, whichever is higher.