Google has been fined $463 million (€403 million) for breaching European Union privacy rules by mishandling users’ location data, the bloc’s data privacy watchdog has said.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said on Monday its investigation found Google did not lawfully or fairly process location data in users’ Web & App Activity, a Google setting that tracks browsing and search history. As well as in their Location History, a service that maps places they've been with their mobile phones.
Regulators also found that Google failed to process personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently through its Location Accuracy feature in the Android operating system.
Ireland is the lead regulator for Google in the 27-nation EU because the US tech giant’s European headquarters are based in Dublin.
The investigation, opened six years ago, examined Google’s handling of location data under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation from its introduction in 2018 until February 2020.
“This case centres around historical policies that have since been updated,” Google said in a statement. “From 2019 onwards, we’ve significantly evolved our practices and launched robust tools that make managing location data simple.”
Privacy probe ongoing
In July, the European Union has fined Google $1 billion over alleged violations of its Digital Markets Act, including favouring its own services in search results and restricting app developers from offering consumers deals outside Google Play.
Trump has objected to the decision, while Google has until September 25 to pay the fine.
The regulator said location data is personal information that can be collected by Google and used to infer a person’s whereabouts.
“Location data can bring both benefits and harms to individuals,” Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said. “It can greatly enhance the utility of online services, but it can also reveal a significant amount of information about an individual, including information that is inherently private.”
The fine is the fourth largest EU privacy penalty issued by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, which has previously imposed larger fines on TikTok and Meta, including a $1.4 billion penalty against Meta.
The regulator said three other privacy investigations involving Google remain ongoing.
