Irish privacy regulator fines Google €403 million over location data processing
“As a result of Google’s failures, individuals could have been unaware that their location was being used to, for example, influence them with ads or to infer their interests, and could lose control over their personal data,” DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said
The Data Protection Commission (DPC) of Ireland has imposed a hefty fine of €403 million ($463 million) on Google's search engine for its improper handling of location data, according to a statement issued on September 21, 2026. The DPC initiated the investigation in 2020 after receiving complaints from various European consumer rights groups regarding Google's use of location data in ads and other services.
DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle emphasized that this infringement on users' privacy resulted in them losing control over their personal data. The regulator noted that Google's retention of location data for longer than necessary amplified this loss of control. Google has not yet commented on the fine, which stands as the fourth-largest penalty imposed by the Irish watchdog, responsible for overseeing the majority of top U.S. internet companies due to their EU operations based in Ireland.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu - Sci-Tech's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
- Google is fined more than €400m by Irish regulator over its use of location data theguardian.com
- Google hit with €403M privacy fine over handling of user location data politico.eu
- Irish privacy regulator fines Google €403 million over location data processing brecorder.com
- Google fined €403m by data watchdog for location tracking rte.ie
- Google fined R7.5 billion by European Union for data location breach iol.co.za
- EU hits Google with €403m fine over location data breach malaymail.com
- Ireland fines Google €403 million on behalf of EU for location data breach lemonde.fr
- Another Big Tech fine: Google penalised €403m by Irish data watchdog euronews.com
