Google is in breach of a European Union court ruling by sending Gmail users unsolicited advertising emails directly, according to a complaint filed with France’s data protection watchdog CNIL by noyb.eu an Austrian advocacy group.

noyb.eu stands for None of Your Business. It is a Vienna-based advocacy group founded by privacy activist Max Schrems.

The search engine behemoth, whose primary source of revenue comes from online advertising should have been asking its EU Gmail users for their consent before sending them direct marketing emails, according to noyb.eu. The advocacy group’s complaint is based on a 2021 ruling made by the Court of Justice of the European Union. 

Also Read: Russian court fines Twitch over ‘fake’ video

In their complaint, noyb.eu said that the emails that it was sending Gmail users included the word ‘ad’ in green on the left side under the subject line. 

The Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés has been at the forefront of data privacy and has been one of the more vocal supporters of it in the EU. Ireland’s privacy regulator, the Data Privacy Commission has been equally instrumental in going after Big Tech companies for violations in the EU. 

Since 2021, the EU has been working on legislation in an attempt to curb the unchecked influence of tech companies in day to day living. Earlier this year, lawmakers in the coalition managed to come to a consensus and passed two pivotal acts that are likely to change how tech companies operate in Europe.

The Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital Services Act (DSA) will require online platforms to better regulate their spaces and watch out for illegal content. According to the new laws, DMA violations can cause a company to be fine up to 10% of their turnover, whereas they can be fine 6% for DSA infractions.