EU Launches Deep Antitrust Probe Into Google's Fitbit Acquisition
European regulators open a full-scale, four-month investigation into Google's $2.1 billion purchase of Fitbit over unresolved data privacy and market dominance concerns.
European regulators launch a full-scale antitrust investigation into Google's $2.1 billion bid for fitness tracker maker Fitbit. The European Commission begins this in-depth probe after a preliminary review ends on August 4, signaling that Google's recent pledge not to use Fitbit health data for targeted advertising fails to satisfy regulatory concerns.
The four-month investigation focuses heavily on how the tech giant handles sensitive health data in the digital marketplace. Healthcare providers, privacy advocates, and rival wearable companies criticize Google's data restrictions as inadequate, arguing the acquisition still unfairly boosts Google's dominance in the online search market and expands its massive data trove.
Google strongly defends the proposed acquisition by insisting the transaction centers entirely on hardware rather than data collection. A company spokeswoman asserts that the wearables market is highly crowded and claims that combining Google and Fitbit's hardware efforts actually increases competition, benefits consumers, and makes future devices better and more affordable.