Google revealed it was purchasing Fitbit in 2015.
Angela Lang/CNET
A group of 20 customer companies on Wednesday night stated it’s sending out a letter to antitrust regulators around the globe, highlighting issues over Google’s proposed acquisition of the physical fitness tracker leader Fitbit.
Google in 2015 revealed the $2.1 billion handle Fitbit as an effort to strengthen its service in wearable innovation, like smartwatches and other gadgets.
The letter is being sent out to authorities in 7 various jurisdictions: the United States, UK, European Union, Canada, Australia, Mexico and Brazil. In the United States, it’s going to the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission. In the EU, the letter is being sent out to the workplace of competitors commission Margrethe Vestager. EU regulators have till July 20 to choose whether to clear the acquisition.
The group behind the letter includes NGOs and other companies in numerous areas. They consist of the Open Markets Institute, Omidyar Network and Center for Digital Democracy in the United States; the Open Society European Policy Institute and Access Now in the EU; and Red en Defensa de los Derechos Digitales in Mexico.
The letter calls Google’s buyout of Fitbit a “test case” for huge tech acquisitions, as Silicon Valley business broaden in part by acquiring information from rivals.
“Google could exploit Fitbit’s exceptionally valuable health and location datasets, and data collection capabilities, to strengthen its already dominant position in digital markets such as online advertising,” the letter checks out. “Google could also use Fitbit’s data to establish a commanding position in digital and related health markets, depriving competitors of the ability to compete effectively. This would reduce consumer welfare (including degrading data privacy options), limit innovation and raise prices.”
A Google spokesperson on Wednesday rejected that the acquisition has to do with gathering the information of a rival, firmly insisting the objective of the buyout is to develop the business’s hardware efforts.
“This deal is about devices, not data,” the spokesperson stated. “The wearables space is highly crowded, and we believe the combination of Google and Fitbit’s hardware efforts will increase competition in the sector, benefiting consumers and making the next generation of devices better and more affordable.”
The letter comes as Google currently deals with extreme examination over its competitors practices. The search giant is under examination by the Justice Department, along with a union of state attorney generals of the United States penetrating the business’s supremacy in online marketing. The Justice Department is supposedly anticipated to submit a case this summertime.
