Google hit with massive privacy fine

Ireland's Data Protection Commission fined Google 403 million euros for breaching EU location data rules. The company must make its practices compliant with GDPR within six months.

Investigation started with complaints

The Data Protection Commission began investigating in 2020 after consumer rights groups complained about how Google handled location data. The probe examined practices from May 2018 to February 2020.

Three features violated privacy rules

Google mishandled location data through Web & App Activity, Location History, and Location Accuracy. The company failed to show it processed data fairly, lawfully, and transparently as required by GDPR.

Google says practices have improved

Google told the Associated Press it has updated its policies since 2019 and launched tools to simplify location data management. The company framed the fine as addressing historical practices.

“From 2019 onwards, we've significantly evolved our practices and launched robust tools that make managing location data simple.”

Part of pattern of EU fines

This is Google's fourth major GDPR fine and one of many penalties from EU regulators. The company also lost an appeal on a 4.7 billion dollar Android antitrust fine and paid 1 billion dollars over Search practices.

More investigations underway

The Data Protection Commission has three other large-scale inquiries into Google at an advanced stage. The regulator also previously fined Meta 1.3 billion dollars for transferring EU user data to US servers.