Google has challenged two European Union orders requiring the company to open parts of its services and search data to competitors, arguing that the measures could expose users’ private information and weaken security protections.
Alphabet’s Google filed the challenges with the General Court in Luxembourg on Monday, escalating its dispute with EU regulators over requirements imposed under the Digital Markets Act.
The European Commission ordered Google in July to make changes designed to give rival search engines and artificial intelligence developers greater access to services associated with its Gemini AI systems.
A separate measure requires Google to provide competitors with access to certain search data under the EU’s rules aimed at limiting the dominance of major technology platforms.
Google argues that complying with the orders could require it to share sensitive search information without sufficient anonymisation.
“We’re appealing decisions that will force us to share people’s private search history without sufficient anonymisation and weaken vital security protections on Android,” Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director of competition, said in a statement.
Bethell said search queries can reveal highly personal information, including medical concerns and details about personal relationships, and argued that sharing such information without adequate safeguards could harm users.
The European Commission has said the measures contain safeguards intended to protect user privacy, device integrity and security.
The dispute centres on how far the EU can require dominant technology platforms to open their services and data to competitors without creating new privacy or security risks.
The Digital Markets Act was introduced to increase competition in digital markets and impose additional obligations on large technology companies designated as “gatekeepers.”
Privacy-focused search company DuckDuckGo has backed the EU position, arguing that the anonymisation framework provides adequate protection for users.
“The anonymization framework is robust and no amount of manufactured doubt changes that,” a DuckDuckGo spokesperson said, according to Reuters.
The EU measures are scheduled to take effect next year.
Google’s legal challenge will now be considered by the EU’s General Court, with the dispute potentially determining how search data and AI-related services can be shared with competitors under the bloc’s digital competition rules.
