The Italian Competition Authority, or AGCM, has launched six investigations into unfair competitive practices in the cloud storage operations of Apple, Google and Dropbox.
AGCM on Monday said the six simultaneous probes are related to alleged unfair commercial practices and the existence of unfair clauses in customer contracts. The investigations were launched after AGCM received complaints alleging unfair commercial practices by the American tech giants.
Specifically being investigated are Google Drive, Apple's iCloud and DropBox, which in itself is a cloud storage firm. AGCM said the investigations relate to alleged unfair commercial practices and unfair clauses in the contractual terms and conditions.
"In particular, the investigations for unfair practices against Google and Apple concern the failure or inadequate indication, when presenting the service, of the collection and use for commercial purposes of the data provided by the user and the possible undue influence in towards consumers, who, in order to use the cloud storage service, would not be in a position to give the operator their consent to the collection and use of information concerning them for commercial purposes," said the AGCM statement.
AGCM is also investigating the rights of these tech firms to suspend service and liability exemptions in the event of loss of documents stored in the cloud. It's also looking into the prevalence of the English version of the contract text over the Italian version.
Dropbox is being investigated over its allegedly murky terms and procedures for withdrawing from a contract. AGCM is also examining Dropbox's terms on access to out-of-court dispute settlement mechanisms.
In late July, AGCM raided the offices of Amazon and Apple over another antitrust investigation related to the sale of Beats headphones. Beats Electronics LLC, the company that makes therse popular headphones, is an Apple subsidiary.
In 2018, AGCM fined Facebook $11.8 million (€10 million) for misleading users over the company's data practices.
The authority also ruled against Apple in a case in 2018 over the company's intentional slowing down, or throttling, of iPhones with older batteries. Apple failed in its appeal against the decision.
The new AGCM probes are part of a broader legal effort by the European Union for tech companies to clarify their terms and conditions, and provide greater privacy protections for consumers. Under pressure from the EU, Facebook in 2019 agreed to change its terms and conditions.
Apple, Google and Dropbox as yet have to comment on the new Italian investigations.
