Google hit with $463 million fine for EU location – Business News
Google has been fined $463 million for breaching the European Union’s strict privateness guidelines as a result of it mishandled customers’ location knowledge, the bloc’s knowledge privateness watchdog stated Monday.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission stated its investigation discovered Google didn’t lawfully or pretty course of location knowledge in customers’ Web & App Activity, a Google setting that tracks shopping and search historical past, and of their Location History, a service that maps locations they’ve been with their cell phones.
Regulators additionally discovered the company failed to be lawful, honest and clear when it processed personal knowledge in its Location Accuracy characteristic within the Android cell working system.
Google has been fined $463 million for breaching the European Union’s strict privateness guidelines as a result of it mishandled customers’ location knowledge, the bloc’s knowledge privateness watchdog stated Monday. AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
Ireland is the lead regulator for Google within the 27-nation EU as a result of the U.S. tech giant’s European headquarters is predicated in Dublin.
The investigation, which opened six years in the past, examined how Google utilized the EU privateness rule guide, often known as the General Data Protection Regulation, from the time it took impact in 2018 till February 2020.
“This case centers around historical policies that have since been updated,” Google stated in a assertion. “From 2019 onwards, we’ve significantly evolved our practices and launched robust tools that make managing location data simple.”
Regulators stated that location knowledge is a kind of personal knowledge that’s collected by Google and can be utilized to deduce somebody’s location.
European Union flags flutter exterior the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, March 19, 2026. REUTERS
Regulators additionally discovered Google didn’t be lawful, honest, and clear when it processed personal knowledge in its Location Accuracy characteristic within the Android cell working system. REUTERS
“Location data can bring both benefits and harms to individuals,” Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle stated. “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.”
It’s the fourth largest EU privateness fine issued by the Irish watchdog, which has beforehand handed out larger fines to TikTok and Meta, together with a 1.2 billion euro fine for Meta.
The regulator stated it nonetheless has three different ongoing privateness investigations involving Google.
