Google fined hundreds of millions of euros over users' location data

The Irish Data Protection Commission has fined Google €403 million for violations of European personal data protection rules in processing users' location information.

The decision resulted from an investigation launched by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) in February 2020 following complaints from several European consumer protection organizations, including BEUC.

The investigation concerned three Google features - Web & App Activity, Location History, and Location Accuracy - and covered the period from 25 May 2018 to 4 February 2020.

The regulator found violations of GDPR requirements regarding the lawfulness and fairness of processing location data in Web & App Activity and Location History. Google also failed to meet transparency requirements for all three features and failed to properly demonstrate compliance with rules during the operation of Location Accuracy.

A separate violation concerned data retention periods in Web & App Activity and Location History. According to the DPC's conclusion, users' location information could be stored longer than necessary.

The regulator noted that due to insufficient transparency, users might not have been aware that their location information was being used, in particular, for personalizing advertising or determining their interests.

Along with the fine, the DPC obliged Google to bring the processing of relevant data into compliance with European legislation within six months.

Google stated that the decision concerns practices from past years that the company has already changed. According to a company representative, since 2019 Google has significantly revised its approaches and launched new tools for managing location data.

The €403 million fine is the fourth largest imposed by the Irish regulator for violations of data protection rules. The DPC is the lead regulator for Google and a number of other major American technology companies in the EU, as their European headquarters are located in Ireland.

Based on materials from: Irish Legal News, The Wall Street Journal