Google has been fined €403 million ($463 million) for breaching strict European Union privacy regulations over its handling of users’ location data, the bloc’s data protection watchdog announced on Monday.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) said its investigation found that Google had failed to process location data lawfully or fairly through two key services: its Web & App Activity setting, which tracks browsing and search history, and Location History, which records places users visit using their mobile phones, reports AP.
The regulator also found that the technology company had failed to process personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently through the Location Accuracy feature of its Android mobile operating system.
Ireland serves as Google’s lead privacy regulator across the 27-member European Union because the US technology giant has its European headquarters in Dublin.
The investigation, launched six years ago, examined Google’s compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from the law’s introduction in 2018 until February 2020.
