FTC backs DOJ proposal Google in search antitrust case

On Friday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, acting as the federal privacy regulator, announced that the U.S. Department of Justice’s plan for Alphabet’s Google to share search data with competitors contains sufficient measures to ensure the protection of users’ privacy.

The suggestion is one of several actions the DOJ claims are vital to enhance competition in the online search industry, following a ruling in August that declared the tech giant maintains an unlawful monopoly.

The judge in Washington handling the case has received a surge of feedback from experts and interest groups both supporting and opposing the DOJ’s proposals as the trial approaches its conclusion this month. This case has the potential to drastically transform the internet by possibly dethroning Google as the primary source for online information.

The FTC stated that rising competition will intensify the pressure on Google to enhance its privacy policies. Google has attempted to prevent the DOJ’s data-sharing plan, which its CEO Sundar Pichai claimed would expose the company’s intellectual property, partly by contending that it would violate user privacy.

The FTC stated that the plan would establish a committee to monitor compliance, akin to the agency’s privacy-related agreements. The DOJ and state attorneys general are requesting that the judge orders Google to divest its Chrome browser and stop its multi-billion dollar payments to Apple (AAPL.O) and other firms that designate Google as the default search engine on new devices.

Google has stated that adopting non-exclusive agreements, which it has already started to implement, is the correct strategy. The DOJ and state attorneys general have raised worries that Google might expand its control over AI.