Google Steers Consumers to Data-Sharing, Groups Tell FTC (2)

Consumer advocates are urging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Alphabet Inc.‘s Google for allegedly steering consumers toward settings that share more of their data when signing up for an account.

Users must take additional steps to opt out of tracking, the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center and nine other groups alleged in a Thursday letter to the FTC. Privacy-protective options are often framed as making users “miss out” or rendering Google features less helpful, the letter says.

Their concerns echo complaints brought by European consumer groups that are accusing the US-based tech giant of putting users on “a ...