RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – The cofounder and CEO of Fitbit is assuring users of its fitness devices that their data will be protected as Fitbit becomes part of Google’s sprawling empire.

“The trust of our users will continue to be paramount, and we will maintain strong data privacy and security protections, giving you control of your data and staying transparent about what we collect and why. Google will continue to protect Fitbit users’ privacy and has made a series of binding commitments with global regulators, confirming that Fitbit users’ health and wellness data won’t be used for Google ads and this data will be kept separate from other Google ad data,” wrote James Park in an email to Fitbit users.

“Google also affirmed it will continue to allow Fitbit users to choose to connect to third party services. That means you’ll still be able to connect your favorite health and wellness apps to your Fitbit account. These and other commitments by Google reinforce why Google is an ideal partner for Fitbit who will continue to put our users first and help further our mission to make everyone in the world healthier,” he added.

The email was sent as Google on Thursday completed the $2.1 billion acquisition.

The deal that could help the internet company grow even stronger while U.S. government regulators pursue an antitrust case aimed at undermining its power.

The completion of the acquisition comes 14 months after Google announced a deal that immediately raised alarms.

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Google makes most of its money by selling ads based on information it collects about its billions of users’ interests and whereabouts. Privacy watchdogs feared it might exploit Fitbit to peer even deeper into people’s lives.

But Google wound up entering a series of commitments in Europe and other parts of the world pledging it won’t use the health and fitness data from Fitbit’s 29 million users to sell more ads. It insists it is more interested in adding Fitbit to its expanding arsenal of internet-connected products, which include smartphones, laptops, speakers, cameras and thermostats.

“This deal has always been about devices, not data, and we’ve been clear since the beginning that we will protect Fitbit users’ privacy,” Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president of devices and services, wrote in a Thursday blog post.

Google is scooping up Fitbit — a company that has sold about 120 million devices in 100 countries since its 2009 founding — while it fights a series of lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice and state attorneys general. The lawsuits allege Google abuses the power that it has amassed as the owner of the world’s most dominant search engine. The Justice Department’s lawsuit isn’t scheduled to go to trail until September 2023.

Since starting out with nothing more than its namesake search engine in 1998, Google has become a dominant player in email, digital maps, web browsing and mobile devices through its Android operating system. The success of those free services propels a digital advertising empire and is the main reason Google’s corporate parent, Mountain View, California-based Alphabet Inc., boasts a market value of nearly $1.2 trillion.

The Justice Department had until Jan. 13 to object to the Fitbit deal, but didn’t file a formal objection. The agency didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Google said it is ready to answer any further questions the Justice Department has about its Fitbit deal.

“We are confident this deal with increase competition,” the company said in a statement.