Apple, Google, Dropbox Being Investigated by Italy Over Cloud Storage

Apple, Google, and Dropbox did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

By Associated Press | Updated: 8 September 2020 10:11 IST

EU is examining if Dropbox failed to provide clear information on how users could get out of contracts

Highlights

The competition and market authority has opened six investigations
It is in response to complaints about unfair commercial practices
In one case, it's also looking into “vexatious clauses” in a contract

Italy's competition watchdog has launched an investigation into Apple, Google and Dropbox over their cloud storage services.

The competition and market authority said Monday it has opened a total of six investigations into Apple iCloud, Google Drive and Dropbox's online storage service in response to complaints about unfair commercial practices and violations of the country's consumer rights directive. In one case, it's also looking into “vexatious clauses” in a contract.

The regulator said it's looking into whether the three companies either failed to, or did not adequately, indicate how users' data would be collected and used for commercial purposes. It is also examining whether Dropbox failed to provide clear and accessible information on how users could get out of contracts or pursue out of court dispute settlements.

Dropbox Plus Subscribers Get Passwords, Vault, Computer Backup Features

Apple, Google, and Dropbox did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Italian probe follows wider efforts by European Union regulators to clarify the fine print tech companies use in their terms and conditions of service so consumers can better understand how their information is being used. Facebook updated its terms of service last year to clarify how it makes money from user data in response to pressure from European regulators.

Is Android One holding back Nokia smartphones in India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.