Google's $2.1 billion acquisition of fitness tracker company Fitbit could harm consumers and hinder innovation, European consumer group BEUC said.
BEUC called the deal a game-changer in the digital health market. Google announced the deal in November last year. By acquiring Fitbit, Google is trying to compete with Apple and Samsung in the highly competitive fitness tracker and smartwatch market. Huawei and Xiaomi are also major competitors in this field. Critics say the acquisition of Fitbit will give the US tech giant access to a large amount of health data.
The data comes from Fitbit fitness trackers and other devices used to monitor users' daily steps, calories burned and distance traveled. BEUC's members include 45 national consumer organizations from 32 European countries.
BEUC said Google's acquisition marks another strategic deal by a handful of tech giants in the digital market. "If Google had access to consumer data generated by the use of Fitbit wearable devices, including now data related to COVID-19, it would be able to use that data for its own benefit while undermining the ability of other companies to bring new products to consumers," BEUC said in a report.
"This could harm innovation and consumer choice in markets as diverse as online advertising, search, health and wearables.
Google's acquisition of Fitbit has the potential to touch not only digital markets, but also important parts of the lives, health and well-being of all European citizens." Google was fined more than 8 billion euros by EU antitrust regulators for abusing its market power in web search and its Android smartphone operating system.
Google said it would ensure transparency about the user data it collects from wearable devices. "We will never sell personal information to anyone, and Fitbit health data will not be used for Google ads. We will ensure that Fitbit users have the freedom to view, move, or delete their private data."
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