Security News > 2023 > January > German cartel watchdog objects to the way Google processes user data

Google users don't have enough choice over whether - and to what extent - they agree to "Far-reaching processing of their data across services," Germany's competition regulator says, adding that the tech giant should change its "Data processing" terms and practices.

They should also be allowed to "Limit the processing of data to the specific service used" and "Be able to differentiate between the purposes for which the data are processed," it said.

The competition regulator sent an initial letter to Google on December 23, the day before everything shuts down for German Christmas, but the statement of objections gives Google the opportunity to state its own case, and offer commitments or suggestions to allay the Bundeskartellamt's concerns.

The cartel watchdog is making the move under Section 19a GWB, signed into German competition law in June last year, but it also notes that the European Digital Markets Act is also likely to apply to certain Google services in the future.

The cartel office said of the move: "Google's business model relies heavily on the processing of user data. Due to its established access to relevant data gathered from a large number of different services, Google enjoys a strategic advantage over other companies. Google's practices must be measured against the requirements under the new competition rules for large digital companies. The company has to give users sufficient choice as to how their data are processed."

Bundeskartellamt chief Andreas Mundt said at the time that the question of how that data would be processed in connection to Meta's other "Various services" was still unresolved, and the cartel office wasn't going to close the book on the case until this was established.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/01/11/germany_google_data_complaint/