Last yr , Googleannouncedit was going to acquire Fitbit for a whopping $ 2.1 billion . Immediately , the news raisedprivacy concernsas Google is a tech giant star with a sight of ad data on the leaflet of take in another company with a cache of health data . The deal itself has been under some acute examination from regulators , but today the EU suppose it’sgranted conditional favourable reception .
For context , the EU bring up a stink ahead of time on about the possible unification . Back in February , the European Data Protection Boardwarnedthat the acquisition was a major privacy risk and stress that the merger would have to follow with the EU ’s GDPR rules . Google then tried to cajole regulator into approving the deal by anticipate itwouldn’t useFitbit ’s wellness data for targeted advertising . EU regulators shot back bylaunching an anti - trust probeinto the deal over the summertime .
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The EU ’s approval , however , come with some okay print . For newbie , Google has to make good on its promise not to apply Fitbit health and GPS datum in place ad . Google also has to “ maintain a expert legal separation ” or a “ data silo ” for Fitbit data that ’s freestanding from Google ad data . On top of that , users in the European Economic Area ( EEA ) must be given a pick to opt in or out of sharing their wellness and wellness data with other Google services , such as Google Search , Google Maps , Google Assistant , or YouTube .
The EU also specifically noted that Google would have to keep up Fitbit ’s web API , as well as the Android API , to maintain healthy competitor in the wearable landing field . ( That ’s upright for Wear OS stans and third - party Wear type O smartwatch makers . )
Google has to maintain these commitments for 10 geezerhood , and because Google is such a huge player in digital advert , the EU also posit it had the right to further extend these stipulation for an extra 10 years .
This is good news for Google ( and Fitbit ) , as it means it ’s clear a major regulatory hurdle and is one tone nearer to owning all of Fitbit ’s sweet , sweet-scented tech . However , it still has to convince other regulators in several other countries . The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has also beenlooking into the pile . Late last month , itpublished three proposalsmeant to treat privacy business organisation that are very similar to the EU ’s conditions , including a 10 - year moratorium on using Fitbit data for targeted ads and maintaining third - political party access .
The biggest vault for Google might come from the U.S. In October , the Department of Justice and 11 state filedan antitrust lawsuitagainst Google . It ’s also potential that Google could be slam withyet another antitrust lawsuitfrom another coalition of State Department as early as today . While these courting are focused on Google ’s dominance in digital advertising and hunt , it might be hard to get U.S. regulators to sour a blind eye in this mood . Still , the EU okay the quite a little — even with caution — might tip the scale in Google ’s favor .
For what it ’s worth , Alphabet , Google ’s parent company , does n’t seem too apprehensive . Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat toldBloombergthat she expects the deal to be dispatch by the end of the year .
“ We do still expect we are going to obtain the necessary regulative approvals to hopefully complete the dealings before the end of this year , ” Porat told Bloomberg .
That said , it is possible it could take a bit longer , as the fusion deadline was extended in a filing until February 2021 .
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