Reuters reported last week
that such a data pledge may likely help Google secure EU approval for its
proposed $2.1 billion acquisition deal.
Alphabet Inc's Google has offered not to use health data of fitness tracker company Fitbit to help it target ads in an attempt to address EU antitrust concerns about its proposed $2.1 billion acquisition, the US tech company said late on Monday.
The bid, announced in
November last year, would help Google take on market leader Apple and Samsung
in the fitness-tracking and smart-watch market, alongside others including
Huawei and Xiaomi.
"This deal is about
devices, not data. We appreciate the opportunity to work with the European
Commission on an approach that safeguards consumers' expectations that Fitbit
device data won't be used for advertising," Google
said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Reuters reported last week
that such a data pledge may likely help Google secure EU approval for the deal.
With just 3% of the global
wearables market as of the first quarter of 2020, Fitbit is far behind Apple's
29.3% share and also trails Xiaomi, Samsung and Huawei, according to data from
market research firm International Data Corp.
While the deal has drawn
heavy criticism from privacy advocates on both sides of the Atlantic, on
concerns that Google may use Fitbit's trove of health data to boost its
dominance in online advertising and search, privacy issues do not fall under
competition rules.
The European Commission is
expected to seek feedback from rivals and users before deciding whether to
approve the deal, demand more concessions or open a four-month-long
investigation if it has serious concerns.
