Ireland DPC fines Google €403 million for the processing of location data



Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has today announced a €403 million fine on Google for its processing of location data in connection with certain services and products.

The DPC’s inquiry into Google’s processing of location data in three specific features – “Web & App Activity”, “Location History” and “Location Accuracy” from 2018 to February 2020 - showed that Google infringed the GDPR in respect of the lawfulness and fairness principles, and accountability and transparency obligations.

DPC’s Deputy Commissioner, Graham Doyle said: "As a result of Google’s failures in this regard, individuals could have been unaware that their location was being used to, for example, influence them with ads or to infer their interests, and could lose control over their personal data. The retention of users’ location data for longer than necessary aggravated this loss of control".

The complaint originated from the Norwegian Consumer Council and seven other European consumer organisations together with BEUC, the European Consumer Organisation.

Google now has six months to bring its processing into compliance. It is not yet known whether the company will appeal the decision. It commented in the Guardian: "This case centres around historical policies that have since been updated. From 2019 onwards, we’ve significantly evolved our practices and launched robust tools that make managing location data simple."

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