Google has finished its $2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit, the organization announced recently. The news follows the EU’s announcement before the end of the last year that it had endorsed the deal after Google made a progression of commitments about its planned activity of Fitbit and utilization of its health information.
In its announcement, Google hardware boss Rick Osterloh said the procurement was “about devices, not data.” Emphasizing this point, he repeated Google’s commitments about how it will deal with the acquisition in the business sector around the globe. These vows include not utilizing Fitbit user’s wellbeing and health information for Google’s ad tracking.
Osterloh likewise said the deal won’t influence how third-party fitness trackers work with Android or how Fitbit works with other non-Google services.
In a statement, Fitbit’s CEO James Park welcomed and the news and said the acquisition would let the organization “innovate faster, provide more choices, and make even better products.” But, he added that Fitbit’s products and services keep on working across the two iOS and Android.
“We will maintain strong data privacy and security protections, giving you control of your data and staying transparent about what we collect and why,” Park said.
It was information concerns like these that have incited regulators around the globe to investigate the deal. Before the end of last year, EU regulators gave the deal their endorsement, finishing an investigation they started back in August.
The endorsement accompanied various conditions, including that Google can’t utilize Fitbit information from users in the European Economic Area (EEA), for example, GPS and health information for ad targeting. As part of the endorsement, EEA users should likewise have the option to quit having their wellbeing and health information imparted to other Google services, and Google has agreed to keep on supporting third-party fitness trackers with Android. Those commitments, including the alternative to quit, will apply to Fitbit users around the world, so users outside the EEA can take benefit.
The US Department of Justice likewise released a statement on Thursday saying itwas all the while investigating the deal and that it had not arrived at a conclusion preceding Google’s announcement.
“The Antitrust Division’s investigation of Google’s acquisition of Fitbit remains ongoing. Although 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,” reads the statement, as indicated by The New York Times. “The Division remains committed to conducting this review as thoroughly, efficiently, and expeditiously as possible.”
