Antitrust investigators are reviewing plans by Google to use a new internet protocol over concerns this could give the company an unfair advantage in accessing consumer data.
Investigators from the House of Judiciary Committee penned a letter on 13 September to Google for information and its decision to use the new protocol. Google said the protocol will be used to improve internet security by encrypting internet traffic. This could prevent hackers from spying on websites and creating fake websites to take customer financial details.
House investigators have also asked in the letter whether Google will be using the protocol for commercial reasons.
The Justice department is aware of the protocol change and has recently received complaints over it, according to a person close to the matter, speaking to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Rivals fear being shut out from user browser data with this new protocol. They also fear Google could encourage Chrome browser users to switch to Google services that support the protocol, something Google has denied it will do.
Google plan to rollout this new protocol with one per cent of Chrome users, as a first step, before widespread adoption among its user base. It brings a fundamental portion of the internet known as domain name system, or DNS, up to date. DNS takes an electronic request from a user for a website and then provides a list of relevant websites.
In an emailed statement to the WSJ, Google said: “Google has no plans to centralise or change people’s DNS providers to Google by default. Any claim that we are trying to become the centralised encrypted DNS provider is inaccurate.”
Fellow Internet browser developer Mozilla announced on September 6 it will also encrypt DNS and will move most users to its new standard.
A coalition of internet service providers said on September 19 in a letter to lawmakers: “Because the majority of world-wide internet traffic… runs through the Chrome browser or the Android operating system, Google could become the overwhelmingly predominant DNS lookup provider.
“Google would acquire greater control over user data across networks and devices around the world. This could inhibit competitors and possibly foreclose competition in advertising and other industries.”
