The consumer watchdog has taken Google to court, accusing the tech giant of "misleading" customers about its use of personal data.

Announcing the legal action on Tuesday, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said Google had misled Android mobile phone and tablet users about the location data the company was collecting and using.

The ACCC alleges Google misled its customers. Credit:AP

Google allegedly gave users the impression they could opt out of having location data collected by switching off the "Location History" setting on their account. However, location data would still be collected if another setting – "Web & App Activity" – was switched on.

The watchdog alleges it was "misleading for Google to not properly disclose to consumers that both settings had to be switched off if consumers didn't want Google to collect, keep and use their location data".