OTI Warns European Regulators about Dangers of Google/Fitbit Merger

In comments filed with the European Commission on Friday, OTI urged competition authorities to closely scrutinize Google’s proposed acquisition of Fitbit. Specifically, OTI explained that Google’s proposed silo for Fitbit health and wellness data is insufficient to remedy the potential merger’s competitive problems and that the merger would harm user privacy and limit interoperability of competing wearable devices. After completing the first phase of its investigation, the EU competition regulator found that the merger merited further examination due to concerns about how it will affect competition in the online advertising and digital healthcare markets.

In July, OTI joined an international coalition of twenty civil society organizations calling on antitrust regulators to closely scrutinize the merger. OTI has explained that data privacy is a competition issue and has argued that the merging of Fitbit’s sensitive health data with Google’s user data poses grave threats to both privacy and competition. OTI has also criticized the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission for failing to strengthen new vertical merger guidelines that govern the U.S. investigation of the merger.

The following quote can be attributed to Christine Bannan, policy counsel at New America’s Open Technology Institute:

“The proposed Google/Fitbit merger would be a colossal consolidation of personal information that could threaten competition and privacy, even if the Commission conditioned approval upon Google creating a data silo for Fitbit health and wellness data. OTI applauds the European Commission for conducting an in-depth investigation of the merger, particularly due to growing concerns about political interference and underenforcement in the U.S. antitrust system.”