C041 Google Ireland Limited

On 8.3.2023, the CNIL rejected the complaint based on 3 arguments:
1. the AAID is automatically installed by the operating system, it is therefore not a "storage" under the meaning of 5.3 ePrivacy;
2. based on Google submissions, Google does not "access" the AAID;
3. third parties accessing the AAID should ask for consent, this is not on Google.

Following similar complaints against Apple's IDFA, noyb launched further action against Google's AAID (Android Advertising Identifier) in France. The somewhat hidden ID, generated by the operating system, allows Google and all apps on the phone to track a user and combine information about online and mobile behaviour. While these trackers clearly require the users consent (as known from "cookie banners"), Google neglects this legal requirement. noyb therefore assisted a French citizen in filing a complaint against Google's tracking code AAID. The complaint argues the violation of Art. 82 Loi informatique et libertes, the French provision transposing Art. 5(3) e-Privacy in the national legal order.