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Consumer advocates successfully sue Google
Consumer advocates from Bavaria have successfully sued Google. photo
© Rolf Vennenbernd/Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH/dpa
The Bavarian consumer advice center sued Google and won. What was it about? To have a cancel button on Google One.
Google One is essentially a payment service for more cloud storage space. Google offers 15 GB free of charge to store photos or emails. For more storage space, users pay between around two and 20 dollars per month.
According to the court, Google has now added an easily accessible cancellation button. However, the consumer advice center wanted to use its lawsuit to get Google to issue a cease-and-desist declaration and thereby undertake to leave the button on the website in the future.
“Large companies also have to adhere to applicable law. We welcome the court’s decision that Google must offer the cancellation button on its platform,” says Tatjana Halm, lawyer at the Bavarian Consumer Center.
A so-called cancellation button for many contracts that can be concluded online, such as mobile phone contracts or subscriptions to streaming services and magazines, has been a requirement since July 2022. This should make cancellations as easy as online purchases. However, according to a study by the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations, one in five providers obliged to do so has not yet integrated a button.
Press release from the consumer advice center Google information about the Google One subscription Subscription costs Previous method of cancellation Federal Association of Consumer Organizations on the button