EC approves Fitbit acquisition by Google, creates rules to protect consumers and competition

As expected, the European Commission approved Google’s acquisition of Fitbit. The deal was first announced late last year and is valued at $2.1 billion. But the EC laid down some rules to ensure that the acquisition will keep the wearables market open and competitive and that consumer's privacy will be respected. Google has agreed not to use health and wellness data collected from Fitbit devices (from users in the EEA) for Google Ads. This covers all data, including GPS tracks and manually input info. In fact, all relevant user data for Fitbit devices and services will be kept in a “data...