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Italy’s competition authority claims Google is not providing enough information to users when it asks for consent to link its various services together.
Italy’s antitrust watchdog has launched an investigation into Google and Alphabet due to concerns that the tech giant is conducting misleading commercial practices.
The Italian Competition Authority – also known as AGCM – said it is investigating the request for consent that Google sends to customers related to “linking” its services. The watchdog claims this request appears to provide no relevant information to users on the impact this consent has on the personal data they share with Google – or it provides this information “inadequately and imprecisely”.
The AGCM also alleges that Google may be using certain techniques to obtain consent from users that impacts their freedom of choice. In a statement, the watchdog argued that the consumer may be taking a commercial decision they would not have done otherwise by consenting to “the combination and cross-use” of personal data among Google’s various services.
“We will analyse the details of this case and will work cooperatively with the authority,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.
The AGCM has struck against Google multiple times in recent years.
In 2021, the watchdog fined both Google and Apple €10m when it found that these companies did not give users enough clear information on the commercial uses of their data. Earlier that year, the AGCM fined Google more than €100m for not allowing an app from Enel X onto its Android Auto platform. The authority said Google abused its dominant market position through this action.
This antitrust authority was also responsible for giving Amazon a massive €1.13bn fine in 2021 for abusing its market dominance by offering incentives to sellers that used its logistics service.
Google has faced various fines and antitrust allegations in recent years, including a massive trial in the US that could have significant ramifications on the company depending on its outcome. The US Department of Justice accused Google of trying to maintain a monopoly when it comes to search engines and online advertising. The judge for this case heard the final arguments from both the department and Google in May and is expected to take several months to reach a final decision, AP reported.
Despite regulators taking issue with Google, the tech giant has plans to acquire cybersecurity start-up Wiz for $23bn, a move that would be its biggest acquisition ever.
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