Google is asking users about data sharing

The European Commission’s Digital Markets Law (DMA) arrived to curb Big Tech’s anti-competitive commercial practices on the continent. We already know how Google will comply with the law, which comes into force on March 6, 2024. The company has already announced several measures, including the possibility for users to unlink certain Google services. We are now getting the first idea of ​​how Google will notify consumers about the unlinking of one or more products. Right from the start, Google’s questions about data sharing began.

Google is asking users about data sharing

A banner that appeared to the site editor AndroidPolice, Manuel Vonau, asks users if they want to keep the seven Google services connected. However, there are options to dive directly into the topic with the Choose Now button, while the second option says Ask me in a week. Therefore, when choosing the first option, a list of services that can be unlinked opens, followed by details about the reason for these changes.

However, the “What doesn’t change” section at the bottom of the page leaves some questions unanswered. At the time Google published a support page that described in detail some of these upcoming changes in the EU, it noted that some data could continue to be shared between unconnected services to prevent fraud, spam, etc., and “to comply with the law”, without providing further details about what this means.

However, in the same way, this warning/banner that recently emerged also comes with some unknowns about data sharing, even if the services are unlinked. However, “even if they are not connected, Google services can always share data with each other to prevent fraud and abuse, to help you complete tasks and for other purposes”. It is not clear what Google means by “other specific purposes” in this context.

Further down the page, there is information on how choices can be modified using users’ Google accounts. However, this is with the clarification that these changes will only come into force on March 6th. So users will find some buttons to turn on or off the seven services, a More options button and another Ask me in a week button.

Tapping More options allows you to individually choose which products you want to turn on/off with a checkbox next to each service.

So the basic options, like selecting all, are also present. If you’re still unsure about the process at this point, Google gives you an easy way out with a third Ask me in a week button.

It’s pretty clear that Google isn’t very interested in these changes, with the company saying that some of them could limit the choices of businesses and people across Europe.

In addition to Google’s parent company Alphabet, companies such as Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft have been designated as guardians by EU regulators. These companies will have to make certain changes to their operations, just as Google is doing now, to comply with the Digital Markets Law.