Google Approves Changes In Data Policy To End German Antitrust Supervisory Investigation

JAKARTA - Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., has agreed to change the practice of using user data to end an antitrust investigation in Germany. This investigation aims to control data-driven market power.

Germany's antitrust supervisory agency in January issued an indictment known as an objection to Google regarding its data processing terms. They said users were not given adequate options regarding the extent to which they agreed to process their data across Google services.

The tech giant relies on targeted advertising sales based on the large amount of data they collect on users. This is a profitable business model that is now in the spotlight of regulators around the world. German antitrust authorities say there is a commitment Google will provide users with more options on how their data is being used across the company's platforms.

"In the future, Google service users will have a much better choice of what happens to their data, how Google can use it, and whether their data can be used across services," Andreas Mundt, president of the cartel office, said in a statement.

"This not only protects users' rights to determine their data usage, but also controls Google's market power driven by data," he said.

Google's commitments include more than 25 other services including Gmail, Google News, Assistant, Contact, and Google TV. This does not 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 law called the Digital Markets Act which has similar obligations.

German competition authorities have stepped up studies of Big Tech since gaining power through Article 19a GWB in 2021 which allows it to investigate and ban certain types of practices by companies deemed to have the highest interests and cross-market powers. This triggers investigations into Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Apple.