European Union fines Google €403 million for privacy violations
EU Commission fines Google €403 million for breaching privacy rules and mishandling site data
Translated by Qiyas from الجريدة — Original source
The European Union’s data protection committee announced on Monday that Google has been fined 403 million euros ($463 million) for violating the bloc’s strict privacy rules due to its mishandling of users’ location data.
The Irish Data Protection Commission said its investigation found that Google did not process location data lawfully and fairly in the “Web & App Activity” setting, which tracks users’ browsing and search history, as well as in the “Location History” service, which monitors the places users have visited with their mobile phones.
The commission also found that the company was not lawful, fair, or transparent in its processing of personal data in the “Location Accuracy” feature of the Android operating system.
Ireland is Google’s lead supervisory authority in the 27-member European Union, as the American tech giant’s European headquarters is located in Dublin.
The investigation, which began six years ago, examined how Google applied EU privacy rules known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) from its entry into force in 2018 through February 2020.
This is the fourth-largest privacy-related fine imposed by the Irish Data Protection Commission, which has previously levied larger fines on TikTok and Meta, including a 1.2 billion euro penalty on Meta.
