Google has announced a change that allows users in Europe to precisely control how much data they share across specific company services, this new policy is in response to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act, enabling users to choose which Google services can access their data.
This policy provides users with the freedom to stop sharing data with all, some, or none of the specified services, the listed services include YouTube, Search, Advertising services, Google Play Store, Chrome, Google Shopping, and Maps.
While the company continues to share user data when necessary for completing a task, complying with the law, or preventing fraud and abuse – like paying for a purchase through Google Shopping using Google Pay – this is not the major change required for the company to comply with the Digital Markets Act, which comes into effect on March 6th.
The act also includes additional rules on interoperability and competition, preventing the search giant from favoring its services in search results over those of other companies.
Not all major tech companies are in agreement with the many changes introduced by the Digital Markets Act, while Google has chosen not to contest its inclusion in the list of companies subject to the law, ByteDance, Meta, and Apple are contesting this classification in court.
The European Union is not the only legislative authority challenging Google’s possession of large user data sets, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed an antitrust lawsuit against the company, potentially the biggest antitrust trial in the country since the government’s action against Microsoft in the 1990s.
The Department of Justice argued that the large amount of user data collected over the years has created a ‘data fortress’ that helps ensure the company remains the leading search engine globally.
Google noted that if a user chooses to unlink services like Search, YouTube, and Chrome, they would lose personalized recommendations on YouTube, similarly, if Search and Maps are unlinked, Maps would no longer be able to suggest locations, like restaurants, based on past activity.
The decision to unlink lies with individual users, offering more control over their data within Google’s ecosystem, although it may result in the loss of certain features.
