Fitbit is now owned by Google
Google announced the takeover in November 2019. (Photo: PixieMe / Shutterstock)
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Google’s acquisition of Fitbit was accompanied by criticism and antitrust negotiations. Now the deal is through.
After the European Commission approved Google’s acquisition of Fitbit in December, the deal is now officially closed. That shared Fitbit and Google on Thursday with.
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Fitbit hopes for more possibilities
As part of Google Fitbit wants “to be able to innovate faster, offer more choice and produce even better products,” writes Fitbit CEO James Park in a blog post. “With access to the incredible resources, knowledge and global platform of Google, the possibilities are truly limitless.”
The focus should continue to be on privacy and security. Park writes that Google will also support these principles. The European Commission had made the approval of the deal conditional.
Google may not use the Fitbit data for its advertising business and, without permission, not even for services such as Google Maps or Youtube. This should prevent or slow down a distortion of competition in the advertising market.
Google wants to adhere to the guidelines
During the negotiations, Google had repeatedly assured that they were interested in the hardware and not in the data. On the occasion of the takeover, Google’s hardware boss Rick Osterloh repeated this statement.
The Fitbit data should therefore be stored separately from the data relating to the advertising business. Access to Android APIs should also be retained so that third-party services can be used via the trackers. Google wants to adhere to these agreements not only in the EU, but worldwide.
In November 2019, Google announced the acquisition worth $ 2.1 billion. Consumer and privacy advocates had raised concerns. The European Commission examined the acquisition and finally approved it.
