The Antitrust has initiated an investigation against Google assuming an abuse of a dominant position.
The Alphabet / Google group holds a dominant position in various markets that allow the acquisition of large amounts of data through the services provided (Gmail, Google Maps, Android) and in 2021 it achieved a turnover of 257.6 billion dollars.
Specifically, Google would have hindered the interoperability in sharing the data on its platform with other platforms, in particular with the Weople APP, managed by Hoda, an operator active in Italy that has developed a data investment bank.
The abuse of a dominant position is in violation of Article 102 of the
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
.
According to the Authority, Google's behavior is able to compress the right to the portability of personal data, governed by article 20 of the GDPR, and to limit the benefits that consumers could derive from the enhancement of their data.
The contested conduct determines a restriction of competition because it limits the ability of alternative operators to Google to develop innovative forms of use of personal data.
In particular, Hoda represented to the Authority the negative effects of Google's conduct on its initiative aimed at enhancing personal data with the consent of the owner of the same and which offers innovative use opportunities and as yet unexplored product prospects.
The institute of data portability,
to the extent that it facilitates the circulation of data and the mobility of users, it offers alternative operators the possibility of exerting competitive pressure on operators such as Google, which base their dominance on the creation of ecosystems based on the management of basically unlimited quantities of data, functional only to its business model.
Furthermore, the right to portability, if accompanied by effective interoperability mechanisms, can offer users the possibility of achieving the maximum economic potential from the use of personal data, also through alternative methods of exploitation to those currently practiced by the dominant operator.
Yesterday, the Authority conducted inspections at Google's offices,