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Google is Worried an Antitrust Probe Will Reveal its Secrets

posted by janrinok on Monday November 04 2019, @06:34AM   
from the sauce-for-the-goose dept.

upstart writes:

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

Google is worried an antitrust probe will reveal its secrets

We're all accustomed to everyday users, competitors, regulators, and even governments looking for assurances that their important data would be protected against Google's misuse – but how often does Google have to raise its voice, to make sure its sensitive information is protected out there in the world?

Well – the shoe seems to be well on the other foot here, in a probe conducted in Texas into allegations of the giant's antitrust behavior.

According to a report from the Hill, Google is very eager to make sure that third parties, i.e., consultants hired by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to help build the case, “won't leak any confidential information to Google's rivals.”

And who knows it better than Google how “sharing” sensitive data with third parties can negatively affect those the data belongs to – Google routinely does it to their billions of users. In fact, its dominance in the tech market in many segments in the US, and in the western world, is squarely built on that “sharing” business model.

But now that a multi-state probe filed in Texas is underway, Google, formally its parent Alphabet, have their feathers ruffled at the very thought.

Google has asked the judge to impose “an order limiting how much sensitive business information the two consultants can obtain and preventing them from working with Google competitors during or after the investigation,” the Hill writes.

The subtle assertion that Google, in its core businesses, actually has any competitors in the US market aside – the giant's petition cites what appear to be rivals rather than true competitors – America's News Corp and Microsoft, and Russia's Yandex – and consultants who previously worked on these company's cases against Google.

In the petition, Google says that two of the Attorney General's consultants “work for competitors and complainants.”

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Original Submission

• Better link - the actual source (Score: 5, Informative) by c0lo on Monday November 04 2019, @07:50AM

  by c0lo (156) on Monday November 04 2019, @07:50AM (#915650) Journal

  From The Hill [thehill.com], presenting the actual reasons for Google's objections.

  Something on the line of "is it a probe or is it a case of economic espionage running through the Office of Attorney General?". Given the way various powers in the mighty USA respect the rule of law (remember Snowden revelations?), I wouldn't be surprised if the latter is possible or even true.

  "The OAG [Office of Attorney General] has retained three outside consultants, including two who work for competitors and complainants, to work on the current investigation," Google said in the petition. "Notably, one of these consultants has been engaged by a company active in efforts to generate regulatory action against Google."

  One of the consultants, Cristina Caffarra, has previously represented Google rivals News Corp and Microsoft as well as Yandex, a Russian search engine that has filed antitrust complaints against Google. She heads competition work at consulting firm Charles River Associates.

  "Armed with Google’s confidential information obtained through this investigation, this consultant could act as an expert for the OAG while simultaneously assisting a competitor or complainant, and marketing themselves as someone with access to Google’s confidential information," the petition continued.

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  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford

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