Google Appeals European Ruling Mandating Search Data Sharing and Android Openness to Competitors

Google announced on Tuesday that it has appealed a European Union decision requiring it to share data with other search engines and open its Android operating system to competing artificial intelligence services, warning of the implications for user privacy.

The EU issued the decision in July under the Digital Markets Act, one of its flagship pieces of legislation aimed at boosting competition, which requires major global technology companies to allow access for competitors, with the goal of providing users with more choices.

Oliver Bethell, Google’s head of competition policy, said, “We are challenging decisions that will force us to share users’ search logs without adequately anonymizing them, and will weaken fundamental security protections in the Android system.”

In July, the European Commission announced that Google must begin sharing search data starting in January 2027, aiming to “restore balance to competition.”

The changes mandated for the Android system are set to take effect in July of next year, with Brussels expressing hope that they will enable the emergence of alternatives to Google’s AI services, such as Gemini.

However, Google maintained that Android is already open and compatible with other systems and services, arguing that the EU decision forces it to hand over users’ search data to other companies without adequate anonymization, knowledge, or consent.

Bethell said, “People turn to search engines to ask their most private questions, ranging from health concerns to personal relationships. Forcing us to share these queries without sufficient safeguards would cause irreparable harm to user privacy.”