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Italy's Antitrust Takes Aim at Google over Personal Data Usage

FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo can be seen on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa
FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo can be seen on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa
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Italy's Antitrust Takes Aim at Google over Personal Data Usage

FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo can be seen on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa
FILED - 09 January 2024, US, Las Vegas: The Google logo can be seen on the Internet company's pavilion at the CES technology trade fair. Photo: Andrej Sokolow/dpa

Italy's antitrust agency said on Thursday it had launched an investigation into online search giant Google and its parent company Alphabet over alleged unfair commercial practices involving users' personal data.
The request for consent that Google sends to its users to connect its multiple services "could constitute misleading and aggressive commercial practice", the watchdog said.
This "incomplete and misleading," information supplied to users fails to clarify the impact their consent may have on the use their personal data, the antitrust authority, which is in charge of overseeing consumer rights, added.
Google offers a wide range of online tools, including video platform YouTube, email service Gmail, and Maps.
The antitrust body said Google presented its request for users' consent in a way that could limit their freedom of choice, by inducing them to agree to a combined usage of personal data by different Google services.
"We will analyze the details of this case and will work cooperatively with the authority," a Google spokesperson said in a statement.
Under Italian legislation companies found in breach of consumer rights rules face fines ranging from 5,000 euros to 10 million euros.

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Apple at All-time High after Morgan Stanley Calls Stock 'Top Pick' for AI Efforts

Apple's shares rose 2.5% to a record high on Monday (The AP/File)
Apple's shares rose 2.5% to a record high on Monday (The AP/File)
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Apple at All-time High after Morgan Stanley Calls Stock 'Top Pick' for AI Efforts

Apple's shares rose 2.5% to a record high on Monday (The AP/File)
Apple's shares rose 2.5% to a record high on Monday (The AP/File)

Apple's shares rose 2.5% to a record high on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the iPhone maker's shares and designated the stock as a "top pick," citing the company's AI efforts as a boost to device sales.

In what was seen as a move to catch up with Alphabet's Google and Microsoft-backed OpenAI, the iPad maker last month unveiled Apple Intelligence, luring customers to upgrade their devices to be able to use the new technology.

Apple's shares, which have jumped nearly 20% this year, rose to $236.30, giving the company a market value of $3.62 trillion, the highest in the world.

"Apple Intelligence is a clear catalyst to boost iPhone and iPad shipments," Morgan Stanley analysts said, Reuters reported.

The new technology is compatible with only 8% of iPhone and iPad devices and Apple has 1.3 billion units of smartphones currently in use by customers, the analysts said, adding that the company could sell nearly 500 million iPhones over the next two years.

Morgan Stanley, which previously expected Apple to sell between 230 million and 235 million iPhones annually over the next two years, raised its price target on the company's shares to $273 from $216.

The stock has an average rating of "buy" with a median price target of $217, and has outperformed the S&P 500 index this year, according to LSEG data.

Industry analysts expect Samsung and Apple to lead the charge in global smartphone market recovery this year given the buzz around GenAI-enabled smartphones.

Apple sold 45.2 million smartphones globally in the three months ending June, up from 44.5 million a year earlier, but its market share fell to 15.8% from 16.6% in the same period, according to IDC data.