French tribunal invalidates many terms in Google+ T&Cs

On Tuesday, the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Paris decided on a claim presented by the French consumer association Que choisir against Google and challenging the company's practices and contract terms involved in the (recently discontinued) Google+ service.

The association challenged Google's Terms of Service and Privacy policy in their entirety, but also a large number of individual clauses contained therein.

The Court analysed these terms in light of consumer legislation, and in particular unfair terms provisions in the Code de la consommation, and data protection rules. They also, possibly quite crucially, relied on a number of provisions in the same Code which dictate the information which consumers must receive prior to contract conclusion.