Irish privacy regulator fines Google €403 million over location data processing

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has imposed a hefty €403 million fine ($463 million) on Google's search engine for violating European Union privacy rules, specifically the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), according to a statement released on Monday. The DPC, which is responsible for overseeing most of the major US tech companies' operations within the EU, found that Google breached these regulations through three specific features - 'Web & App Activity', 'Location History', and 'Location Accuracy' - between 2018 and 2020.

This fine marks the fourth-largest penalty levied by the DPC, which has imposed a total of more than €4 billion in fines since assuming its leadership role in 2018. The regulator has given Google six months to bring its processing practices into compliance. Google did not immediately comment on the fine when asked by Reuters.

According to Graham Doyle, Deputy Commissioner of the DPC, "The retention of users' location data for longer than necessary aggravated this loss of control." The watchdog opened its inquiry into Google's handling of location data in 2020 following complaints from several European consumer rights organizations, among them the pan-European consumers' organization BEUC, about Google's processing practices.

The DPC stated that Google's failures could have left individuals unaware that their location was being used for various purposes, such as influencing them with ads or inferring their interests, ultimately resulting in a loss of control over their personal data. The regulator has also initiated three other statutory inquiries into Google, all of which are currently in advanced stages.