Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), acting on behalf of the European Union, fined Google 403 million euros ($462 million) on Monday for breaching users’ location data rights.
The DPC found that Google infringed the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation between May 2018 and February 2020, specifically regarding the lawfulness and fairness of its processing of location data in web and app activity and location history.
Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said Google’s failures meant users “could have been unaware that their location was being used to, for example, influence them with ads or to infer their interests,” adding that holding onto the data longer than needed deepened that loss of control.
Beyond the fine, the regulator has given Google six months to bring its data processing practices into compliance. Google had not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.
