Google’s businesses are encompassing pretty much every aspect of our digital lives and that gives the company great power. But as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. And in Google’s case that responsibility is to not only keep its users’ data safe but also keep itself from gathering too much of it. Keeping Google in check is not an easy job but there’s one institution that’s doing its due diligence when it comes to the tech giant and isn’t holding any punches if it finds any offenses. We’re talking of course about the European Commission. Reuters reports that the European regulator is on the hunt once more. The EC has sent questionnaires to Google as part of its preliminary investigation. The Commission is looking to learn more about Google’s data collection and use in relation to local (to Europe) search services, online advertising, online ad targeting services, web browsers and others. The goal is to find out more about how Google is monetizing the data it has and if that monetization is in accordance with EU laws.

If it turns out Google was misbehaving then the repercussions will be imminent. The EC has already fined Google billions of dollars and has forced it to adjust some of its practices in Europe to avoid further damages. Needless to say, the Commission’s findings are publicly shared and other institutions around the world can use them to start their own investigations or impose sanctions if there was anything illegal going on in their own jurisdictions.