Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) said Monday that Google infringed EU privacy rules known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) with three of its features – 'Web & App Activity', 'Location History' and 'Location Accuracy' — from 2018 to 2020.
The DPC opened the inquiry in 2020 following complaints from several European consumer rights organizations, including the pan-European consumers' organization BEUC, regarding Google's processing of location data.
The infringements include Google's processing of location data in 'Web & App Activity', an account setting that tracks a user’s activity on Google services, and 'Location History', which keeps track of a user’s location through their mobile devices.
Google, which is undergoing three separate statutory inquiries that the DPC says are at an advanced stage, was ordered by the regulator to bring its location data processing into compliance within six months. Google has not commented on the fine.
