Google Slapped with €403 Million Fine Over Location Data Breaches

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Google €403 million for violating the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The investigation, which lasted over six years, found that Google's 'Web & App Activity', 'Location History' and 'Location Accuracy' features collected location data without users' consent between May 2018 and February 2020.

The DPC concluded that Google lacked transparency in its data processing activities, making it difficult for individuals to be aware of how their location was being used. Graham Doyle, DPC deputy commissioner, stated that 'individuals could have been unaware that their location was being used to, for example, influence them with ads or to infer their interests.'

Google has since updated its policies and claimed to have made significant improvements in managing location data. However, this is the first GDPR finding against Google by the Irish watchdog since the EU law came into force in 2018.