Google agrees to change user data practices in Germany

Google has agreed to change its user data practices to end a German antitrust investigation aimed at curbing its data-driven market power, the German cartel office said on Thursday.

The German antitrust regulator in January issued a charge sheet, known as a statement of objections, to Google regarding its data processing terms, saying that users weren’t given sufficient choice on whether and to what extent they agree to the far-reaching processing of their data across the company’s services.

Tech giants rely on selling targeted advertising based on the huge amounts of data they gather about users, a lucrative business model now in regulators’ crosshairs worldwide.

The German regulator said Google’s commitments would give users more choice on how their data is used across the company’s platforms.

“Users of Google services will have a much better choice as to what happens to their data, how Google can use them and whether their data may be used across services,” Andreas Mundt, president of the cartel office, said in a statement.

“This not only protects the users’ right to determine the use of their data, but also curbs Google’s data-driven market power,” he said.

Google’s commitment covers more than 25 other services including Gmail, Google News, Assistant, Contacts and Google TV.

It doesn’t apply to Google Shopping, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Search, YouTube, Google Android, Google Chrome and Google’s online advertising services, all of which are subject to a new EU legislation called the Digital Markets Act that has similar obligations.

The German competition authority has increased its scrutiny of Big Tech since it acquired sweeping powers, called Section 19a GWB, in 2021 that allow it to investigate and ban certain types of practices by companies considered to have paramount significance and cross-market power.

That has triggered investigations into Amazon, Meta Platforms and Apple.

Reuters