Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Alphabet’s Google €403 million ($463 million) over its handling of users’ location data, following an investigation into the company’s practices, the regulator said on Monday.
The DPC, which serves as the lead European Union privacy regulator for many major internet companies, launched the inquiry in 2020 after complaints from several European consumer rights organisations.
The complaints concerned Google’s processing of location data in connection with certain products and services.
DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said Google’s failures could have left users unaware that their location information was being used to influence them through advertising or to determine their interests.
“As a result of Google’s failures, 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,” Doyle said.
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He added that retaining users’ location data beyond the period necessary had further reduced their control over their personal information.
Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The penalty is the fourth-largest fine imposed by the Irish watchdog, which oversees privacy regulation for many of the biggest U.S. internet companies because they have their European operations based in Ireland.
