Germany: Issued Bundeskartellamt interim ruling in investigation into Google for alleged anti-competitive data processing practice

On 23 December 2022, the Bundeskartellamt communicated to Google its Statement of objections on the investigation into the company's alleged anti-competitive data processing terms. The Bundeskartellamt stated that Google combines the data collected through its services, including Google Search, Google Play, YouTube, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Assistant and third parties applications and webpages, to create detailed profiles of its users for advertising purposes and train its service algorithms. The Bundeskartellamt claims that according to Google terms, it may use data from its own services, third-party apps, and Google Play services. In its preliminary findings, the Bundeskartellamt alleged that users were not given a choice to consent to the processing of their data across services. Allegedly, the choice presented to users is not sufficiently transparent. According to the Bundeskartellamt, being able to limit the purpose for which data is used is necessary for it to be a sufficient choice. Additionally, it was noted that users should be able to clearly differentiate between the different ways their data can be used. Finally, the Bundeskartellamt noted that the choice to not consent needs to be as easily accessible as the one for giving consent. The interim ruling allows Google to reply and give justifications for its practices. A final ruling will follow in 2023.