Google appeals EU data-sharing order, warns of 'irreversible harm'

Published on 29/09/2026 - 10:52 GMT+2

Google said on Tuesday it had appealed EU measures announced in July requiring it to share data with rival search engines and give competing AI services greater access to Android, warning that the measures could put users’ privacy at risk.

The company filed its appeal with the EU’s General Court in Luxembourg.

“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,” said Oliver Bethell, Google’s senior director for competition.

The European Commission said Google must begin sharing search data from January 2027 to “rebalance the playing field” for rival search engines.

Changes to Android are also due next year. The Commission said the changes would give competing AI assistants access to features available to Google’s own services, such as Gemini, allowing users to activate a rival assistant by voice or ask it to carry out tasks in other apps.

Google argues that Android is already open to other services and that the search data requirements lack adequate safeguards, user knowledge and consent.

“People use Search for their most personal questions — from medical worries to close relationships — and mandating we share these personal queries without adequate safeguards would cause irreversible harm to user privacy,” Bethell said.

However, the Commission said when it announced the measures in July that they include protections for users’ privacy and device security.

It said search data would be anonymised before being shared and Google could assess whether a recipient posed serious security or data protection risks.

The appeal is the latest clash between Google and Brussels under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which sets rules for large tech companies that dominate key digital markets.

In a separate case in July, the Commission fined Google €890 million for favouring its own services in search results and restricting app developers from directing customers to other ways of buying their products.