Facebook, Google are watching you, says ACCC

Digital platforms such as Facebook and Google are ‘extensively tracking’ the online activities of Australians, a new report says.

The ACCC says the use of online private messaging services and other services such as Zoom has skyrocketed during the COVID-19. Picture: AFP

Digital platforms such as Facebook and Google are “extensively tracking” the online activities of Australians, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has warned.

The competition watchdog’s Digital Platform Services ­Inquiry interim report, released on Friday, says tech giants have also successfully increased their share of digital advertising despite sector-wide declines due to the COVID-19 crisis.

It says Facebook and Google continue to enjoy the majority of Australia’s digital advertising revenue, leaving just under 20 per cent for news and other websites.

It comes as the federal government moves to finalise legislation to force digital platforms to share their advertising revenue with media companies. “The ACCC notes that for a typical $100 spent by advertisers in 2018, $49 went to Google (including ad tech services), $24 to Facebook and $27 to all other websites and ad tech,” the report says. “This trend has continued in the 2019 calendar year, with $53 to Google, $28 to Facebook and $19 to all other websites and ad tech.”

Under Josh Frydenberg’s proposed mandatory code of conduct, announced in July and expected to be legislated in coming weeks, Google and Facebook must negotiate agreements with media companies to pay for news and share data-collection ­methods.

They will also have to explain the types of data they collect when users interact with Australian news websites or face hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.

While Facebook and Google’s share of advertising has grown, the report acknowledges the industry has suffered declines in revenue due to the pandemic as spending slows.

The ACCC says the use of online private messaging services and other services such as Zoom has skyrocketed during the COVID-19 as workplaces and schools move to working remotely, which has raised more privacy concerns. It says the personal information of Australians is being harvested by tech giants.

“The ACCC’s website analysis found Google and Facebook had the largest presence in online tracking, with Google and Facebook’s third-party scripts present on over 80 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of 1000 popular websites in Australia,” the report says.

“Amazon and Microsoft tracking were present on nearly 30 per cent and almost 20 per cent of websites respectively.”

The report notes that many consumers would be unaware that these platforms and other businesses involved in the supply of advertising services are receiving user information in this way.