Italian watchdog probing Google over data portability abuse

London, July 15

The Italian anti-competition watchdog has ordered a probe against Google for alleged abuse of dominant position in data portability in the country.

According to the Italian Competition Authority, Google allegedly hindered interoperability in sharing individuals' data with other platforms, and particularly with direct marketing platform called Weople. Weople has developed an innovative data investment bank.

The Italian Competition Authority on Thursday launched an investigation against Google for a possible abuse of dominant position in violation of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

In the authority's view, "Google's conduct could compress the right to portability of personal data, established by Article 20 of the GDPR, and could constrain the economic benefits that consumers can derive from their data".

"At the same time, the alleged abuse could restrict competition because it limits the ability of alternative operators to develop innovative data-based services," the authority added.

The Alphabet/Google group holds a dominant position in several markets that allow it to extract large amounts of data through the services it provides (Gmail, Google Maps, Android) and, in 2021, had revenues of $257.6 billion.

Data portability, insofar as it facilitates data circulation and users' mobility, offers alternative operators the opportunity to exert competitive pressure on companies such as Google, which have established their dominance on the creation of ecosystems based on the management of virtually unlimited amounts of data, functional only to their own business model.

"Moreover, the right to portability, if accompanied by effective interoperability mechanisms, can offer users the opportunity to achieve the maximum economic potential from the use of personal data, also through modes of exploitation that are different from those currently practiced by the dominant operator," said the authority.

--IANS