The European Commission has warned that Google’s purchase of smartwatch company Fitbit may risk owners’ privacy and data protection.

Discussing mergers and their impact on European data protection law this week, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) in Brussels raised concerns about the “ potential combination and accumulation of sensitive personal data in Europe by a major tech company”.

The board reminded both Fitbit and Google of its obligations under European law and asked it to conduct an assessment of the privacy implications “in a transparent way”.

In a statement, Commission said: “The EDPB reminds the parties to the proposed merger of their obligations under [EU law] and to conduct a full assessment of the data protection requirements and privacy implications of the merger in a transparent way.

"The board urges the parties to mitigate possible risks to the rights to privacy and data protection before notifying the merger to the European Commission.”