Google fined over €403 million over processing of location data

Ireland's Data Protection Commission has fined Google over €403 million for processing location data.

The data protection authority has said its investigation found that information was not processed in a fair, lawful and transparent manner. This means that people may have been unaware that their location was being used in an unsavoury manner.

The investigation has been ongoing since February 2020; this follows a spate of complaints from some European consumer rights organisations regarding the processing of location data.

DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said: “Location data is a type of personal data which is processed by way of location tracking, and includes data collected or processed by Google, which, by itself or in conjunction with other information, an individual’s location can be inferred.

“It can greatly enhance the utility of online services, but it can also reveal a significant amount of information about an individual, including information that is inherently private.”

The DPC imposed the massive fines and has told Google that it must bring its location processing into compliance within six months.