Google’s data collection practices are currently being investigated by European Union antitrust regulators, a sign that the tech giant remains in the crosshairs even after several billion-dollar fines against Google by the EU.
The European Commission is now looking for information on how Google, whose parent company is Alphabet, is using and monetizing the data it collects. The latest revelation points to how authorities across the world are increasingly reviewing these tech companies and how they use their dominance.
“The Commission has sent out questionnaires as part of a preliminary investigation into Google’s practices relating to Google’s collection and use of data. The preliminary investigation is ongoing,” an EU regulator told Reuters in an email.
Several companies that received the questionnaires from the commission are being given a month to reply.
Documents obtained by Reuters show that the focus of the EU probe is on Google’s data related to local search services, online advertising, online ad targeting services, login services, web browsers, and others.
Companies were asked about agreements providing data to Google or allowing it to collect data via their services in recent years, and whether they were compensated. It’s unclear which companies are involved.
Regulators also want to know the kind of data sought by Google, how it uses it, and how valuable the companies consider such data to be. Another question asked was whether Google and the companies are subjected to contractual terms that prohibit or limit the use of the data.
Major technology companies, once lauded as engines of economic growth, have increasingly been on the defensive because of their outsized market influence and complaints about their monopoly. Politicians, including President Donald Trump, as well as consumers, firms, and regulators, have criticized that power.
While a spokesperson for Google didn’t immediately respond to a request from The Epoch Times into the EU probe, the company told Reuters in an email, “We use data to make our services more useful and to show relevant advertising, and we give people the controls to manage, delete, or transfer their data.
“We will continue to engage with the Commission and others on this important discussion for our industry.”
Epstein said he has spoken to various attorneys general about those issues, but he wasn’t sure if they had the authority. He said said Congress, the Justice Department, and the Federal Trade Commission could take much more concrete action.
