Consumer advocate groups in Europe have expressed concern over the complexity of Google's account sign-up process, which is says is easy for consumers to accept the company's tracking, yet far more complex to disable the tracking.

We all know that many consumers simply select the easy option with the objective to getting access to a company's services. Presented with a "accept privacy" button, most won't go through the hoops and jumps to disable the tracking. The BECU is suggesting there should be the same one-click option to disable the tracking. Europe's Data Protection authorities have been looking into this for a number of years, and it's reported that there may be a conclusion to share with the relevant local authorities in the coming months. I won't hold my breath.

The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), which co-ordinates the coalition, claims the language Google uses in the registration process is "unclear, incomplete, and misleading" leading many consumers to pick options that are less privacy-friendly.

As a result "tens of millions of Europeans have been placed on a fast track to surveillance when they signed up to a Google account" BEUC claims.

[bbc.co.uk...]