Disconnect.Me Files Antitrust Case against Google; Google dismissed the allegation as baseless, but is it?

Disconnect.Me, a mobile app developer that blocks ads and other third-party trackers online founded by ex-Googlers, also took the steps that the European Commission and other organizations had taken by filing an antitrust case against Google in Europe.

The B corporation startup Disconnect.Me has filed a case against Google for an alleged antitrust issue. The complaint was filed on the basis that the Android giant is "abusing its market position" by excluding Disconnect's Android app, Disconnect Mobile, from the Play store.

Google, however, immediately responded in its defense, saying that the allegations are baseless. The giant company cited the 4.4 clause in its terms and conditions of use, wherein "apps that interfere with other apps (such as by altering their functionality, or removing their way of making money)" are banned from the Google Play store. Google insisted that this applies to all and Android developers support it.

To which Disconnect.Me co- founder and CEO Casey Oppenheim responded in disagreement to Google's statement. Oppenheim said that the mobile app is not anti-advertising. While revenue is crucial for many online-based companies, he and the rest of the founding members of the company, also believe that Internet users have the right to know and therefore must have the option to protect themselves from unknown trackers and malware.

He further stated that advertising doesn't have to get to that level where sensitive personal information is put at risk. To demonstrate his point, Oppenheim cited studies that focus on the risk of invisible tracking in Android apps. As a former Google engineer, he certainly can attest to the veracity of this claim.

Indeed, could Google's former engineers knowledge on how to counter this business model that had given the NSA and other state agencies access to personal information and online activities of users that had prompted Google to ban the app from Google Play store?

While that sounds another allegation, it is simply difficult to fathom how a mobile app that is designed to protect users from devious online activities like identity theft by way of malicious tracking, and "malvertising threats" that are disguised as ads be banned from the store.

Disconnect Mobile, is a freemium app built for both iOS and Android. The premium version is $5/month or $50/year, and it can be downloaded as a sideloaded option through its website and Deutsche Telekom and Blackphone as its tie-up partners in Europe. Fairsearch.org and Yelp had also an existing antitrust complaint against Google, but Disconnect's could be treated separately as it is about tracking technology.

One good thing that this Disconnect.Me filing antitrust complaint against Google in Europe news has brought is that it raises awareness about tracking technology and its impact on the privacy of online users. For the company, this awareness could be good too as it could prompt users worlwide to consider the Mobile App it offers, if not immediately download and use it.