Google’s top security staff warn that search data could be hacked if EU rules change

Google’s senior privacy and security staff have warned that plans in Europe are to make it open up its search data Android Operating system for competitors, it could lead to people’s search queries being hijacked and increased cybercrime via content, according to multiple interviews and documents shared with WIRED.

Mountain View’s warning comes as European Commission officials prepare to make final decisions next month in two cases, about the interoperability of Google Search and Android, under an EU milestone. Digital Markets Law Competition rules. The rules, which were first adopted at the end of 2022, are designed to force big tech companies to open up. Companies that control the marketsFacilitating competition for others Reduce dependence on a few companies.

Heather Adkins, Google’s vice president of security engineering and a founding member of the security team, says the company has concerns about the proposed changes for both Search and Android. In April, the European Commission published initial details, as well as now-closed public consultations, on how Google should take action. Open its search data– Share anonymized search data with competitors – and allow other AI services to obtain it More access to Android Operating system.

“If it is implemented as described today, I think within a short period of time on Android, we will see a significant increase in fraud in the EU,” Adkins tells WIRED. “Fraudsters are creative and knowledgeable. The previous implementation (date), I would give it maybe weeks before we start to see an increase in fraud in Europe.”

Meanwhile, Adkins also claims that the proposed changes to Google Search could lead to bad actors de-anonymizing people’s search queries and sharing search data with small businesses to be the target of criminal hackers.

The European Commission’s proposals are complex, affect technical systems used by billions of users, and are mired in the continent’s competition laws. As the July 27 deadline set by European officials to announce its final decisions approaches, Google has been increasingly vocal in its opposition to the parts of the plans it does not believe will succeed. Some of Google’s competitors, which could benefit from access to the data, say the plans have fewer privacy and security impacts than have been proposed.

These competitors, independent researchers, and academics who responded to the consultations pointed out how the European plans might work, as well as their potential drawbacks. Appeals and counter-appeals have been issued where competition law conflicts with privacy effects. European Commission spokespeople acknowledged WIRED’s request for comment but did not respond to questions regarding Google’s concerns.

Since the end of 2022, the Digital Markets Act has allowed European officials to designate technology companies with significant market shares as “Gatekeepers“And use the rules to get them to open up their systems and data to competitors. Google’s parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Booking, ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft are all gatekeepers, with their products — from LinkedIn and TikTok to Instagram and YouTube — subject to the rules.

Google search works, which is estimated Making up 90 percent of the worldwide search market, it is not surprising that it is the only search engine that includes grammar. Under DMA, Google It already shares some data With competitors in search engines; However, planned changes change how this will work.

Plans Say it widely Google must provide online search engines with access to search data “on par” with data collected by Google itself, including “any query entry” people enter into a Google search as well as certain other metadata. Simply put: what people type into Google. It will also have to share click data and ranking results for search queries. “This is a unique data set that only Google has had access to for many years, and there is no direct way for any other competitor to build or access something similar,” says Alyssa Cooper, executive director of the Center for Technology Policy Research at the University of California, California. Knight Institute Georgetown.