{
  "id": 8912640,
  "title": "Irish privacy regulator fines Google €403 million over location data processing",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/irish-privacy-regulator-fines-google-403-million-over-location-data-8912640",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-21T11:18:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Business Recorder",
    "slug": "business-recorder",
    "url": "https://www.brecorder.com/news/40440516/irish-privacy-regulator-fines-google-eur403-million-over-location-data-processing"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.\n\nThis 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.\n\nAccording 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.\n\nThe 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.",
  "summary": "DUBLIN: The lead EU data privacy regulator for most of the biggest internet companies fined Alphabet’s Google search engine €403 million ($463 million) after an inquiry into its processing of location data, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said on Monday. The Irish watchdog found that Google infringed European Union privacy rules known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) through…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 10,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Channel News Asia",
        "title": "Irish regulator fines Google €403 million over location data processing",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/irish-regulator-fines-google-403-million-over-location-data-processing",
        "published": "2026-09-21T09:22:19.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "RTE News",
        "title": "Google fined €403m by data watchdog for location tracking",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/google-fined-403m-by-data-watchdog-for-location-tracking",
        "published": "2026-09-21T09:22:46.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Politico EU",
        "title": "Google hit with €403M privacy fine over handling of user location data",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/google-hit-with-403m-privacy-fine-over-handling-of-user-location-data",
        "published": "2026-09-21T09:26:18.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Le Monde English",
        "title": "Ireland fines Google €403 million on behalf of EU for location data breach",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/ireland-fines-google-403-million-on-behalf-of-eu-for-location-data",
        "published": "2026-09-21T10:04:43.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Euronews",
        "title": "Another Big Tech fine: Google penalised €403m by Irish data watchdog",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/another-big-tech-fine-google-penalised-403m-by-irish-data-watchdog",
        "published": "2026-09-21T10:15:17.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "EU hits Google with €403m fine over location data breach",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/eu-hits-google-with-403m-fine-over-location-data-breach",
        "published": "2026-09-21T10:45:25.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "IOL",
        "title": "Google fined R7.5 billion by European Union for data location breach",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/google-fined-r7-5-billion-by-european-union-for-data-location-breach",
        "published": "2026-09-21T10:54:00.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Guardian Business",
        "title": "Google is fined more than €400m by Irish regulator over its use of location data",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/google-is-fined-more-than-400m-by-irish-regulator-over-its-use-of",
        "published": "2026-09-21T10:57:26.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Hindu - Sci-Tech",
        "title": "Irish privacy regulator fines Google €403 million over location data processing",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/21/irish-privacy-regulator-fines-google-403-million-over-location-data-8914661",
        "published": "2026-09-21T11:45:36.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}