Google is breaking EU law by sending direct marketing messages to users of its Gmail email service, activists said in a complaint sent to French regulators on Wednesday.
It’s the latest in a long line of complaints filed by activist group NOYB (None of Your Business), which has been battling the tech giant over privacy for years.
The French data regulator CNIL is one of the most active in Europe and has imposed heavy fines on Google and Facebook in particular.
The activist group provided CNIL with screenshots showing marketing messages at the top of a user’s inbox.
The messages were marked with a green box and the word annocce, French for advertisement.
The group said EU law only allows this type of marketing if users have consented.
“Spam is commercial email sent without consent. And it’s illegal,” NOYB attorney Romain Robert said in a statement.
“Spam doesn’t become legal just because it’s generated by the email provider.”
The CNIL confirmed to AFP that it had received the complaint.
Google told AFP it has yet to comment.
Google and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, is at the center of a long-running battle over its data collection practices in Europe.
The French regulator last December fined 150 million euros ($150 million) and Meta 60 million euros for failing to allow users to easily disable cookies, files that track users across the web.
The two companies are also under scrutiny over their practice of sending EU citizens’ personal information to servers in the United States.
NOYB has filed dozens of cases with regulators across the bloc arguing the practice is illegal.
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