Italian Regulatory Body Approves Google’s Promises to Resolve Data Dispute
Italy’s competition watchdog, AGCM, announced on Monday that it has approved the commitments put forth by Google to resolve a case concerning the company’s alleged misuse of its dominant position in the market for user data portability.
The regulator launched an investigation last year following a complaint by Italian startup Hoda, which accused Google of violating the US company’s users’ right to share their personal data with other digital service platforms.
In response to the probe, Google proposed some changes to its data backup service to improve users’ ability to extract their personal data from the Alphabet unit’s services, the regulator said in a statement.
The company also promised to make available a test version of the tool it developed so that other operators of digital services can access personal data that users create while operating on Alphabet services, the statement said.
The new tool will be officially launched next year.
“Overall, the authority found Google’s commitments adequate to remove competition concerns,” the AGCM said.
A Google spokesperson expressed satisfaction with the AGCM’s decision, adding that the company is investing in data portability “in a way that improves user experience while protecting user privacy and security.”
Last year, the AGCM had said that the alleged abuse could “limit the economic benefits that consumers can derive from their data” as well as limit competition.
Google faced a fine of up to 10 percent of its annual global turnover if found guilty of abusing its position.
