EU Fines Google $463 Million Over Mishandling Users’ Location Data
What Happened
Google has been fined €403 million ($463 million) by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), the lead European regulator for Google under the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The regulator found that Google did not lawfully, fairly, or transparently process users’ location data through three features: Web & App Activity, Location History, and Android’s Location Accuracy. The investigation examined Google's practices between 2018 and 2020.
Key Takeaways
Regulators said users may not have been fully aware that their location data could be used to infer interests, influence advertising, or create detailed profiles about them. The DPC concluded that Google failed to meet GDPR requirements on lawfulness, fairness, transparency, and data retention when processing location information.