Privacy-browser Brave launches GDPR ad tech ‘test case’ against Google

Brave, a privacy-focused web browser built by a Mozilla co-founder and the creator of JavaScript, Brendan Eich, has filed privacy complaints against Google in what could become a GDPR test case against ad tech data use. According to a report by Reuters, Brave - which blocks ads by default in place of its own has filed privacy complaints against the search giant in Britain and Ireland in efforts to trigger a GDPR article requiring EU-wide investigation. This hasn’t been brought on by a particular case. Brave believes that the way ad tech companies use personal data for ad targeting is an inherent breach of GDPR law, which seeks to ensure individuals have ultimate control over the use and storage of their data. There is a massive and systematic data breach at the heart of the behavioral advertising industry, Brave’s chief policy officer Johnny Ryan told Reuters. Despite the two-year lead-in period before the GDPR, ad tech companies have failed to comply.