EU regulators seek feedback on Google’s Fitbit data pledge

Alphabet’s Google made the pledge to the European Commission late on Monday to try address concerns that its $2.1 billion takeover of Fitbit might boost its clout in online advertising and search.The EU executive is now seeking feedback from rival makers of wearable devices, app developers and other online service providers as well as healthcare providers before deciding whether to accept the offer, demand more or open a full-scale investigation.

While the feedback is important, sources had already told Reuters the data pledge could assuage EU competition worries and help the deal secure approval.To ring-fence Fitbit’s health data, Google has proposed to set up a structure for data storage consisting of auditable technical and process controls called Fitbit Account Data, the EU questionnaire seen by Reuters said.This data will not be transferred to a Google account nor be available to Google ads, while Fitbit will be the sole legal data controller, the document said.The Commission asked if the pledge would make it more difficult for rivals to match Google’s services and if the data protection system was appropriate and effective.Google’s proposal would be valid for five years and monitored by a trustee. Respondents have until Friday to reply. The Commission’s decision is due by Aug. 8.With just 3% of the global wearables market as of the first quarter of 2020, Fitbit is far behind Apple’s 29.3% share and also trails Xiaomi, Samsung and Huawei, according to data from market research firm International Data Corp. 

EU regulators seek feedback on Google's Fitbit data pledge

Related Posts

Bangladesh exporters want duty-free access to US, Brazil

Siddiqur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has written a letter to the US ambassador, asking for duty-free access to the US…

Austrian data privacy activist files complaint against Amazon, others

The action by Noyb, chaired by data privacy activist Max Schrems, also named Netflix , Spotify and Youtube , after it tested them by requesting private data…

Ghana’s apparel exports under AGOA crosses $9m

“With investment partnerships with US companies and technical assistance from USAID, we fully expect to see another large increase in exports in 2016 with the potential to…

France to pay bonus for shoe, clothes repairs to cut waste

The move aims to cut down on the 700,000 tonnes of clothes thrown away by French people each year, two-thirds of which ends up in landfills.”From October,…

Britons loosen January pursestrings, fashion benefits but did margins suffer-

The news came from BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker (HSST) that also showed a strong performance across all sectors with all of the three categories that it…

H&M in talks to support Bangladesh workers as lockdowns hit livelihoods

Millions of people in impoverished Bangladesh rely on the garment industry to feed their families and the cancellation of an estimated $3 billion in orders is hitting…