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Google comes under fire over Fitbit acquisition
Google’s takeover of fitness tracker Fitbit could be “a game-changer” for health data that will need close European Union scrutiny, consumer advocates said.
Reviewing how Fitbit’s data could add to Google’s powerful position in online advertising makes the deal a test case for regulators, said BEUC, which represents consumer associations across Europe. It argues that wearables create a new frontier by tracking users’ health and location around the clock.
“The use of data from wearables in tracking Covid-19 infections and providing access to doctors and health information is a timely illustration of this,” BEUC said Wednesday. The takeover would place Google “in an unassailable position in digital health and wearables markets.”
[Bloomberg]
Google’s takeover of fitness tracker Fitbit could be “a game-changer” for health data that will need close European Union scrutiny, consumer advocates said.
Reviewing how Fitbit’s data could add to Google’s powerful position in online advertising makes the deal a test case for regulators, said BEUC, which represents consumer associations across Europe. It argues that wearables create a new frontier by tracking users’ health and location around the clock.
“The use of data from wearables in tracking Covid-19 infections and providing access to doctors and health information is a timely illustration of this,” BEUC said Wednesday. The takeover would place Google “in an unassailable position in digital health and wearables markets.”
[Bloomberg]
