Google completed the $ 2.1 billion acquisition of Fitbit, the company announced today. The news follows the EU’s announcement at the end of last year that it had approved the deal, after Google made a series of commitments about the planned operation of Fitbit and the use of its health data.
In its announcement, Google’s chief hardware officer, Rick Osterloh, said the acquisition was “about devices, not data”. Emphasizing this point, he reiterated Google’s commitments on how it will handle acquisition in markets around the world. These promises include not using Fitbit users’ health and wellness data to track Google ads.
Osterloh also said the deal will not affect how third-party fitness trackers work with Android, or how Fitbit works with non-Google services.
In a statement, Fitbit CEO James Park welcomed the news and said the acquisition would allow the company to “innovate faster, provide more options and make even better products”. However, he added that he emphasized that Fitbit’s products and services would continue to work on iOS and Android.
“We will maintain strong data privacy and security protections, giving you control over your data and maintaining transparency about what we collect and why,” said Park.
It was concerns about data like this that prompted regulators around the world to investigate the business. At the end of last year, EU regulators approved the deal, concluding an investigation that began in August.
The approval came with a number of conditions, including that Google cannot use Fitbit data from users in the European Economic Area (EEA), such as GPS and health data for ad targeting. As part of the approval, EEA users can also choose not to have their health and wellness data shared with other Google services, and Google has agreed to continue to support third-party Android wearables. These commitments, including the opt-out option, will apply to Fitbit users worldwide, says Google The Verge, so users outside the EEA can take advantage.
Google’s announcement appears to have been made before the final decision by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) on the acquisition. At the end of December, The Guardian reported that Google risked up to a $ 400 million fine if it proceeded with the deal without the regulator’s approval.
At the time, the ACCC rejected Google’s proposed conditions for the deal due to concerns over data, as well as fears that it might force Fitbit’s rivals out of the wearable market because of their dependence on Google’s Android. Although ACCC President Rod Sims acknowledged the grants that Google offered, he expressed concern that they could not be “monitored and applied effectively in Australia”. The Australian regulator said his investigation would continue, before a new decision date of 25 March 2021.
Google declined to comment on the ACCC record of the ongoing investigation.
The United States Department of Justice also released a statement on Thursday saying it was also still investigating the deal and that it had not reached a conclusion before Google’s announcement.
“The investigation by the Antitrust Division over Google’s acquisition of Fitbit is ongoing. Although the Division has not reached a final decision on whether to proceed with enforcement action, the Division continues to investigate whether Google’s acquisition of Fitbit could harm competition and consumers in the United States, ”says the statement, according The New York Times. “The Division remains committed to conducting this review as completely, efficiently and quickly as possible.”
Google announced the acquisition of Fitbit more than a year ago, in November 2019, when Osterloh called it “an opportunity to further invest in Wear OS, as well as bring Made by Google handheld devices to the market”.
In his letter announcing the acquisition, Park said that Fitbit has sold more than 120 million devices in more than 100 countries.
Update on January 14, 10:13 am ET: Added Justice Department statement indicating that its investigation into Google’s acquisition of Fitbit is ongoing.
January 14 update, 10:41 am ET: Clarified that Google’s commitments to EU regulators will apply worldwide, including the ability to opt out of data sharing. It also noted that Google declined to comment on the record about the ACCC’s ongoing investigation into the deal.