The EU is reported to open a full investigation into Google’s acquisition of Fitbit

Google’s $ 2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit will reportedly gain more attention from EU regulators. Reuters reports that the deal will face a large-scale antitrust investigation, which the European Commission is reported to open next week. Consumer regulators and advocates have shared concerns about Google’s planned acquisition of Fitbit, related to the search giant gaining access to sensitive data such as fitness activities, heart rate, sleep patterns and more.

Consumer groups across Europe, the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Brazil have labeled Google’s Fitbit deal as a ‘test case’ for regulators’ ability to avoid data monopolies. Google has tried to appease European regulators by offering not to use Fitbit’s health data to target ads, but the Financial times reports that this warranty was not sufficient. EU officials are reportedly demanding more concessions that would ensure Fitbit’s data would be open to third-party developers, and they also want to make sure that Google won’t use Fitbit data to improve its search engine.

The EU’s investigation is likely to take another four months to address Google’s potential use of Fitbit data. Google announced its acquisition of Fitbit back in November, and it may take a full year or more for the company to finalize it. Google also spent $ 40 million last year to buy some smartwatch technology from Fossil, in greater pressure to build Android integrated wearables.

A full European investigation into Google’s Fitbit deal looks as if it will appear in a House Judiciary Committee antitrust panel within days of the appearance of most major U.S. technology companies. Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook CEOs appeared on the trial yesterday, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai in particular was faced with a number of questions about the dominance of the company’s search function and the use of data to track potential competitors.