Irish privacy regulator fines Google €403 million over location data processing

DUBLIN, Sept 21 : The lead European Union data privacy regulator for most of the biggest internet companies fined Alphabet's Google search engine €403 million ($463 million) following an inquiry into its processing of location data, Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) said on Monday.

The DPC opened the inquiry in 2020 following complaints from several European consumer rights organisations regarding Google's processing of location data in connection with certain services and products.

"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," DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said in a statement.

"The retention of users' location data for longer than necessary aggravated this loss of control."

Google did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

It was the fourth largest fine levied by the Irish watchdog, which is the lead EU regulator for most of the top U.S. internet firms due to the location of their EU operations in Ireland.