ACCC

Australia’s competition watchdog opened an inquiry into the widening reach of services from large digital platform providers, releasing an issues report raising questions about the companies’ impact.

An Australian court rejected allegations by the telecoms regulator that Google misled customers about the expanded use of personal data, ordering the watchdog to pay the search giant’s legal cost.

Telstra again attracted the attention of Australia’s telecoms regulator for misleading customers about the capabilities of a residential broadband service, with the operator facing a court order to compensate subscribers for halving the upload speed of a budget internet service.

Australia’s competition regulator launched legal action against Alphabet-owned Fitbit for alleged false or misleading representations about consumer guarantee rights on faulty devices.

An Australian court slapped a AUD60 million ($42. 4 million) penalty on Google for misleading customers about personal location data collected through its Android OS, maintaining pressure over the company’s privacy policies.

Telstra agreed to address concerns raised by Australia’s competition watchdog following an investigation which found the operator’s recent registration of 900MHz sites interfered with rival Optus’ plans to roll out its 5G network nationally.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) opened a public consultation seeking feedback on how the default settings and pre-installation of search services and web browsers impacts consumer choice.