An antitrust investigation has been opened in regards to the proposed Google/DoubleClick merger. The fact that the Federal Trade Commission is investigating the deal (rather than the Department of Justice) suggests that privacy concerns may play a role in the review. Google snapped up the online advertising company for $3.1 billion back in April and immediately ran into opposition from business rivals who argued that the merger would give Google a veritable monopoly in the online advertising world. On top of that, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Center for Digital Democracy, and the US Public Interest Research Group filed a complaint with the FTC on April 20, arguing that "neither Google or DoubleClick have taken adequate steps to safeguard the personal data that is collected" by their respective services. They asked the FTC to put the merger proceedings on hold until Google changes certain "unfair and deceptive trade practices."
On May 1, these groups were joined by the State of New York Consumer Protection Board, which submitted a letter of its own to the FTC. In that letter, the Board worried that the merger "will result in the creation of 'super-profiles,' which will make up the world's single largest repository of both personally and non-personally identifiable information... In the worst-case scenario, this repository of super-profiles could, for example, be made available to secondary users including marketers without consumers' knowledge or consent, as well as made public as evidence in litigation or through data breaches." The CPB also calls on the FTC to halt the merger until these data protection issues have been examined more thoroughly.
News source: Ars Technica
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