Google Fined $463 Million By Irish Data Watchdog Over Location Data Handling — Update

By Edith Hancock

Ireland's data protection watchdog fined Alphabet's Google 403 million euros ($462.9 million), saying the company breached European Union privacy rules over its handling of users' location data.

Ireland's Data Protection Commission said Monday that Google infringed the EU's General Data Protection Regulation following a 2020 investigation into the company. "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," Graham Doyle, the DPC's deputy commissioner, said in a statement.

The regulator said that the rulebook requires companies to process personal data in a lawful, fair and transparent manner, and that its inquiry focused on location data the search giant processed in three of its features.

A Google spokesperson said the case focuses on historical policies. "From 2019 onwards, we've significantly evolved our practices and launched robust tools that make managing location data simple," they said.

The inquiry came after complaints from European consumer groups including BEUC, whose director general Agustin Reyna said on Monday that the decision holds Google accountable over the way it obtained consent to use location data, but that consumers' rights need to be upheld faster.

Write to Edith Hancock at edith.hancock@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 21, 2026 06:29 ET (10:29 GMT)