Google Asks Judge In AT&T Merger Lawsuit To Protect “Sensitive Data”

Google officials on Tuesday asked the U.S. judge overseeing the government’s lawsuit to stop the AT&T/T-Mobile merger to protect their confidential internal data in the case.

Google officials are worried that their “competitively sensitive” data related to internal products and launch plans could be exposed as information pertaining to AT&T and T-Mobile is released.

Google made their request in Washington, asking U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle to have the parties provide advanced notice to the company for any disclosures in court or to experts.

According to Google’s lawsuit intervention notice:

“Without such additional protection, Google and other non- parties could find their confidential information — such as Google’s business plans related to Android — in the hands of competitors (or their competitors’ consultants), or even in newspapers, without having had prior notice of its disclosure.”

The lawsuit has been active since August 31 when the U.S. Justice Department sued AT&T and T-Mobile owners Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE). Officials say the two company’s would “substantially” reduce competition and seven states joined the lawsuit while agreeing that the merger would be anti-competitive in nature.

AT&T and T-Mobile have not commented about Google’s part in the lawsuit which doesn’t target their relationship and only asks for care in dealing with sensitive information.