Google announced late last year that it planned to buy Fitbit to bolster its portfolio of wearable devices, but the deal has been under EU scrutiny from day one. Several months later, it now appears that Google’s Fitbit deal will undergo a full investigation by the European Union.
Reuters reports that the EU will announce a full-scale investigation into the Google / Fitbit deal next week. If that’s the case, it could delay the completion of the deal even further, preventing Google and Fitbit from working together more closely.
The investigation would reportedly take up to four months and could focus on the use of these data in health care. In a statement reiterating its previous comments, a Google spokesperson said the deal is about devices, not data, and how Fitbit will help Google better compete in the portable space.
The space for portable devices is crowded, and we believe that 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.
Google previously promised the EU that it will not use Fitbit’s customer data, which includes some detailed health data, to serve ads. That motion was made to help curb the EU’s antitrust concerns, but it clearly wasn’t enough now that talks on a full investigation are on the table.
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