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Google Gets Consumer Service Ultimatum From German Consumer Groups
An anonymous reader writes "Google received an ultimatum Thursday from German consumer organizations that want it to start answering questions from its users via email. The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZBV) has asked Google to sign an undertaking that it will provide customer service by responding individually to users questions sent by email, said Carola Elbrecht, VZBV's project manager for consumer rights in the digital world at the VZBV. Signing such a document would expose Google to fines if it breached the undertaking. On the other hand, said Elbrecht, 'If Google does not sign it, we're going to court.'"
Quite right - I'm very reluctant to make more use of Google's services than I do because I know that it is practically impossible to get a response from the company if anything goes wrong. They may assume that their market share is big enough without being seen as a responsive company, but I think that in the long run they are wrong to behave this way.
Sue them for breaking german law. The Telemediengesetz (German Teleservices Act) expressly demand that any service provider must provide direct contact methods.
Wrong. Yes the law is valid and must be complied to even if your service is free. And make no mistake, Google is a multi-billion dollar company, not some charity organisation run by goodwill. They a huge company and can afford customer care.
I think it does sound unreasonable.
At the moment they respond to most e-mails, but they have flexibility about it. They can choose.
If they sign it, they are legally obliged to respond. E-mail bombing? Every random idiotic thing? They have a legal obligation to reply individually.
This is precisely the type of government overreach that should NOT happen.
after all i can ask them anything and they usually give me pages and pages of answers
Try asking them: Which personal information have you stored about me? Where did you get this information from? Whom did you share this information with? You see German law states that everyone owns his own personal information and that any company that stores or processes personal information must answer the questions I mentioned.
Wrong. The have offices in Germany. As such they operate in Germany and must comply to the law. The Google HQ is not of relevance.
Google Hamburg
Google Germany GmbH
ABC-Str. 19
20354 Hamburg
Deutschland
Telefon: +49 40-80-81-79-000
Fax: +49 40-4921-9194
Google München
Google Germany GmbH
Dienerstraße 12
80331 München
Deutschland
Lest you forget Google is incorporated in almost every European country you can name.
Google Germany GmbH
ABC-Str. 19
20354 Hamburg
Deutschland
Telefon: +49 40-80-81-79-000
Fax: +49 40-4921-9194
Google München
Google Germany GmbH
Dienerstraße 12
80331 München
Deutschland
Google never had customer service for non-paying users. And they've been a privacy nightmare for as long as I remember. Do you think a company that hires so many PhDs hasn't thought through the implications of their decisions? The "don't be evil" ship sailed a long time ago.
The link you posted goes to a page where Google explains their policies and what they claim are the rules that they use to store data about you. That's not what the law asks for. They have to tell _you_ exactly what information they have stored about _you_, not what information they might have stored about any arbitrary person.
I cannot know what information they have stored about me by reading their policy, because that would make it necessary for me to keep track of any single contact I have with Google, and obviously I wouldn't know what data was stored because someone used my computer, or used my name. I also wouldn't know if they made any mistakes and incorrectly attributed information of some other person to me. That's a good reason why they have to tell you what they stored about you, to give you a chance to make them correct any mistakes.
Isn't that what Google dashboard is for?
bickerdyke