Twenty advocacy groups from the US, Europe, Latin America and elsewhere signed a statement Wednesday urging regulators to be wary of Google’s US$2.1-billion bid for fitness tracker company Fitbit because of privacy and competition concerns.
We believe the combination of Google’s and Fitbit’s hardware efforts will increase competition in the sector
“Past experience shows that regulators must be very wary of any promises made by merging parties about restricting the use of the acquisition target’s data.
Regulators must assume that Google will in practice utilise the entirety of Fitbit’s currently independent unique, highly sensitive data set in combination with its own,” the groups said.
“We believe the combination of Google’s and Fitbit’s hardware efforts will increase competition in the sector.”
Google announced the deal in November to take on competitors in the crowded market for fitness trackers and smartwatches.
