The Pulse
Google Takes Two EU Android and Search Orders to Court
Google has challenged two European Commission orders requiring changes to Android AI access and sharing of Google Search data. The company says the measures threaten privacy and security; the Commission says they include safeguards for user
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
Two European Union orders now face a court challenge from Google, putting Android’s AI features and Google Search data sharing at the center of a dispute over privacy and competition. The European Commission says Android runs on devices used by 60% of EU users, a reach that makes access to its system features consequential for rival assistants. Google filed its challenges at the EU General Court on Monday, September 28, according to Reuters.
Google argues the orders put privacy at risk
The appeals target binding measures the Commission adopted in July under the Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s rules for large digital platforms. One order requires Google to give competing AI services access to Android features used by its Gemini assistant. The other sets out how Google must share search data with eligible rival search providers, including AI chatbots with search functions.
“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. He argued that compelled sharing of personal queries without adequate safeguards could cause irreversible harm to user privacy. Google’s challenge contests both the privacy protections for shared data and the security implications of opening Android functions to rival assistants.
What the Android order would change
The Commission says third-party assistants currently have more limited access to key Android functions than Google’s own AI services. Under its order, users would be able to activate a preferred rival assistant by voice, in a manner similar to “Hey Google,” and use that assistant to carry out actions in apps. The Commission gives examples including booking a taxi, getting suggested replies in chat apps and asking about a recently visited place.
Those changes could make it easier for people to use a competing assistant without giving up the system-level functions available to Gemini. The Commission says its measures protect user privacy, device integrity and security. Google’s appeal challenges whether those safeguards adequately address the risks it identifies.
Search data comes with limits on use
The Search order covers anonymised ranking, query, click and view data that Google collects to improve its own search service. The Commission says rivals need access to data at scale to improve their search results and retrieval systems, and that its order does not require Google to disclose its search algorithms. The data can be used to develop and improve online search services, but not to train general-purpose AI models or for unrelated purposes such as consumer profiling.
The Commission’s account of the safeguards describes measures to remove direct identifiers, suppress rare or unusually long queries, and generalise location and other metadata. It says shared data will not include user account information or search histories. The rules also require recipients to pass independent audits and restrict how they store and use the dataset.
DuckDuckGo backs the Commission
DuckDuckGo, a search company that has criticised Google’s position in the dispute, supported the EU regulator’s safeguards. “The anonymization framework is robust and no amount of manufactured doubt changes that. The only thing an appeal buys Google is time,” a DuckDuckGo spokesperson said.
The dispute puts two questions before the General Court: whether the Commission’s access requirements comply with the DMA, and whether its privacy and security protections answer Google’s objections. The Commission says the changes will take effect next year; Google’s appeal challenges the orders that set them in motion.