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US: States ask internet search rival for evidence in Google probe

By  |  October 30, 2019

Texas’s attorney general has sent the privacy-focused search engine DuckDuckGo a demand for documents and records as part of a multi-state antitrust probe into anti-competitive behavior by Google.

According to CNN, the legal request  was sent to DuckDuckGo earlier this month. It asks DuckDuckGo to reproduce any information it has provided to the Justice Department in connection with the federal agency’s own Google antitrust probe.

The move highlights the broad reach of investigators as 50 attorneys general, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, probe Google’s business for wrongdoing. It underscores how investigators are increasingly seeking testimony from businesses that compete with Google for market share.

In September, Texas kicked off the investigation by sending Google its own civil investigative demand. With more than 200 numbered questions, the demand asked Google to explain its past mergers, its advertising technology and its data collection practices, among other things. A civil investigative demand, or CID, carries the weight of a subpoena.

Full Content: CNN

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