Google Closes Fitbit Acquisition While DOJ's Review of Merger Continues
Today, Google announced that it "completed its acquisition of Fitbit" in a $2.1 billion deal, even though the Department of Justice has not yet approved the merger. DOJ said that its investigation into the deal remains ongoing, and "[a]lthough the division has not reached a final decision about whether to pursue an enforcement action, the division continues to investigate whether Google's acquisition of Fitbit may harm competition and consumers in the United States." The announcement comes after Google gained EU antitrust approval for its Fitbit bid last month subject to limits on how it will use consumers' data, including pledging to not use Fitbit data for advertising purposes in Europe. EPIC has long opposed Google's acquisition of Fitbit, citing concerns about Google's history of data protection and privacy violations. In November 2019, EPIC told the House Judiciary Committee that the FTC should block the acquisition. EPIC brought the 2012 case against the FTC for the agency's failure to enforce the 2011 consent order against Google after the company consolidated user data across multiple services.
January 14, 2021| Share:
