Italy Ends Probe After Google Revises User Data Consent Practices

Italy's competition authority said it had closed an investigation into Google on November 21, 2025 after the company implemented remedies to address concerns about how it sought user consent to combine personal data across its services. The probe, launched in July 2024, examined whether Google's consent requests were potentially misleading and incomplete about the breadth of data combination and cross service use.

Regulators focused on the wording and presentation of consent prompts, concluding that users might not have been given sufficiently clear or accurate information about where data collected in one product could be linked with data from other Google services. The authority found that the existing disclosures did not adequately explain the extent to which personal information would be combined for advertising and product personalization across the firm’s ecosystem.

Under the agreement with the authority, Google redesigned its consent prompts and clarified the information provided to users about how personal data is used and where cross service data combination applies. After reviewing the changes, the competition authority determined that the corrective measures addressed its concerns and therefore closed the case without imposing a financial penalty.

The resolution underscores a regulatory approach that prioritizes remedial action to restore transparent commercial practices, rather than defaulting to fines. By insisting on clearer user facing disclosures, the authority signaled that transparency and informed consent remain central to enforcement of consumer protection and competition rules in digital markets. For users, the practical effects should be more understandable prompts and greater clarity about when opting in to one service may allow data to be used more widely within a platform family.

The decision is notable against the backdrop of intensified scrutiny across the European Union of how major technology platforms handle consent and data portability. National regulators and EU bodies have repeatedly emphasized that consent must be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous, and they have pressed companies to ensure consent flows meet those standards in practice. Closing a case after remedies are implemented creates a precedent for achieving compliance through behavioral changes rather than financial sanctions alone.

For Google, the outcome avoids the reputational and financial costs of a protracted enforcement fight. It also sets expectations for how the company must present privacy and data combining choices to users in markets where regulators are watching closely. For other platforms, the Italian authority’s decision offers an example of enforcement that combines legal pressure with a pathway for companies to remedy practices deemed unfair or misleading.

The closure of the probe does not eliminate broader debates about algorithmic personalization, targeted advertising and the balance between consumer convenience and privacy. However, it does reinforce the immediate regulatory message that transparency in consent mechanisms is a required element of the digital economy, and that national authorities will use corrective powers to shape how companies obtain and document user agreement.