Google wants the EU court to put on hold an order that would force it to hand search data to OpenAI and other rivals, saying the move would put Europeans’ privacy at risk.
The Alphabet-owned company made the request to the General Court in Luxembourg on Tuesday, September 29, Reuters reported. On the same day, it also sued the European Commission over the July decision behind the order, which was issued under the Digital Markers Act (DMA).
The request raises the stakes, as filing an appeal does not pause the order. So, unless judges grant temporary relief, Google must start sharing data in January 2027, likely long before the court rules on the substances of the case.
A Google spokesperson said the order “risks serious harm to the privacy of European users,” the threshold the court applies when deciding whether to grant interim measures.
Oliver Bethel, the company’s senior director of competition, said people turn to Search with “their most personal questions” and that sharing those queries without adequate safeguards “would cause irreversible harm to user privacy.”
Under the Commission’s decision, Google must give eligible rivals anonymized ranking, query, click and view data on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. AI chatbots that offer search functions qualify, and Google must share the same data it uses to improve its own search engine.
The tech giant must furthermore complete key technical preparations this year before data sharing begins.
Brussels defends its safeguards
The Commission says its measures will increase competition while keeping privacy and security protections in place. Regulators, however, see it differently. They say no smaller rival could ever build up search data on Google’s scale, and that giving them access will mean more choices for people picking between search engines and AI assistants.
On privacy, the Commission says the data will be anonymized in several layers, using a method it worked out with privacy experts inside and outside the institution. That method follows draft guidelines it is writing jointly with the European Data Protection Board.
Google can also refuse to share with any recipient it judges to pose a serious cybersecurity or data-protection risk.
Teresa Ribera, the Commission’s executive vice-president for competition policy, said the decision would help smaller competitors while “protecting the user’s privacy.”
U.S.-based privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo, which doesn’t track users or store search engine histories, has supported the Commission’s anonymisation approach and rejected Google’s privacy criticism. The search company argues that the framework provides strong protection for shared data.
Google is also contesting a second July decision that requires it to give rival AI assistants the same access as Gemini to 11 Android features, including voice activation, by August 2027.
Bethel stressed that the order would “weaken vital security protections on Android”.
How the court handles the suspension request will be an early signal of how far the DMA can reach into the core of Big Tech platforms. Until then, the Commission’s clock keeps running.
Featured image: A. C. via Unsplash+
This article originally appeared on 150sec and was republished with permission.
