A group of French activists issued a complaint to regulators on Wednesday, alleging that Google is breaking EU law by sending Gmail users direct advertising messages. This is the latest complaint in a long series filed by None of Your Business (NYOB), a French activist group battling the tech giant in matters of data privacy. CNIL, the French data regulator, has previously handed fines against Google and Facebook for violating policies as they relate to privacy and security of consumers. The activist group reportedly provided screenshots of the marketing messages.
The group claims that EU law only allows for this type of marketing if users had consented. NYOB lawyer Romain Robert stated that spam emails delivered without consent are illegal under this law, and do not become legal if generated by the email provider. The CNIL has confirmed that it received the complaint, but no comment has been issued on the behalf of CNIL or Google.
Read More: Privacy Activists Target Google Over French ‘Spam’ Emails
