Italian Regulators Investigate Apple and Google for Unfair Trade Practices

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] On the 7th (local time), CNBC reported that Italian regulatory authorities have launched an investigation into Apple, Google, and Dropbox to determine whether they collected user information without consent and used it for commercial purposes.

According to the report, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has initiated investigations related to six cases of unfair trade and unfair contract regulations involving Apple's iCloud, Google's cloud storage service, and Dropbox.

The Italian AGCM is conducting the investigation on the grounds that these companies did not properly disclose how their services collect consumer data and use it for commercial purposes.

In the case of Dropbox, there are also allegations that it did not provide specific information for terminating service contracts.

This investigation by the Italian regulatory authorities follows pressure from the European Union (EU) for technology companies to clarify their terms and strengthen privacy protections for consumers.

Accordingly, Facebook agreed last year to change its terms following pressure from the EU.

This development is drawing more attention as European countries are concretizing moves to impose digital taxes on American IT giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook, and Amazon.

Meanwhile, the companies involved have not issued separate statements regarding the investigation by the Italian regulatory authorities.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.