Italian regulator starts investigation into Google to hinder competition

Italian regulator ACGM has launched an investigation into Google for hindering interoperability with other services. It would be too difficult for users to share their data from Google services with other services and that would hinder competition.

The ACGM, together with a financial agency of the Italian government, already investigated Google offices in Italy on Wednesday because of the investigation, says the supervisor. ACGM mentions Google Maps, Android and Gmail, among others, as services from which it is difficult for users to extract data to share with other services.

The ACGM specifically mentions this Weople, an Italian service that focuses, among other things, on data portability and the management of privacy rights in various services. These can now be difficult with Google services because the company does not make it possible to have settings for this managed by other services.

Google denies the allegations to Reuters. It points to its Takeout service, where users can download their own data. If other services were allowed access, Google said it would “compromise user privacy.” “It also encourages fraudulent activity. There are always ways for companies to improve direct portability of data in their services.”