On July 14, local time, the Italian antitrust agency, the Italian Competition and Markets Authority, announced the start of an investigation into Google for abusing its dominant market position to restrict data interconnection between platforms, according to CCTV news.
The Italian Competition and Markets Authority believes that Google has a dominant position in several markets, accessing large amounts of personal data through services such as Google Mail, Maps, and Android.
The regulator said in a statement that Google allegedly impedes interoperability with other platforms, particularly with Italian operator Hoda’s app Weople, which could “limit the economic benefits consumers can derive from their data” and restrict competition, in violation of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the EU General Data Protection Regulation. Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and Article 20 of the EU General Data Protection Regulation.
Google responded by saying that for nearly a decade, it has provided services for people to extract and transfer data. The company already has a number of ways to increase the direct portability of data from its services, such as through the Open Source Data Transfer Project, in which any organization can participate.
Under Italian law, Google faces fines of up to 10 percent of its annual global sales if it is found to have abused its position, which IT House understands to be $257.6 billion in 2021.
