Google hit with €403M privacy fine over handling of user location data

The Irish data privacy authority fined Google €403 million on Monday over how it has been gathering location data from users. This is the fourth largest fine ever issued by the Irish regulator and its first major penalty against Google. Ireland is charged with enforcing the European Union’s privacy rules against many of the world’s tech giants that have their European headquarters in Ireland. The decision concludes an inquiry that was opened in 2020 by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), following complaints from consumer organizations across the EU over how Google processed people’s location data and the transparency around that processing.