Apple, Google, Dropbox Face Italy Antitrust Probes Over Cloud Computing Services

Italy’s antitrust authorities said Monday they are opening six investigations against global operators of cloud computing services such as Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG subsidiary Google, Apple Inc AAPL, and Dropbox, Inc DBX.

What Happened: Italy’s competition authority, Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato, in a statement said it was looking into alleged unfair commercial practices by the companies.

The Italian competition body said it is looking into allegations that the companies failed to show how their services collect and use consumer data for commercial purposes.

Why It Matters: Multiple technology companies from the United States are facing wider investigations in the European Union.

The EU authorities are probing Facebook Inc FB over antitrust concerns, which the Mark Zuckerberg-led company says is interfering with its employees' privacy.

Google told the EU in July it would not use Fitbit Inc. FIT data for targeting ads in a bid to secure approval for a deal to acquire the health wearables firm.

The U.S. Department of Justice may bring an antitrust case against Google as early as this month to look in the company’s clout in search, video streaming and other areas, according to the New York Times.

Price Action: Alphabet Class A shares closed nearly 3% lower at $1,581.21, and Class C shares closed almost 3.10% lower at $1,591.04 on Friday.

Apple shares were mostly unchanged at $120.96 on the same day, while Dropbox shares closed nearly 4% lower at $19.75.