Google fined €403m by Irish data watchdog over location tracking
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Google hit with €403m fine by Irish data watchdog over GDPR violations
Image source: EPA/Shutterstock
Image caption: Google say they have improved data protection practices in recent years
By Emmet McElhatton
BBC News NI
Published: 21 September 2026, 13:26 BST
Updated: 1 hour ago
Google has been fined €403m (£345m) by the Republic of Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) over its handling of location data in violation of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This penalty, one of the largest imposed by the Irish watchdog authority, follows a six-year inquiry into the tech giant, initiated after complaints from several European consumer rights organizations.
On Monday, the DPC stated that its investigation found Google had processed data in an unlawful, unfair, and transparent manner. The inquiry focused on Google's handling of location data in three specific features: Web & App Activity, Location History, and Location Accuracy between 25 May 2018 to 4 February 2020.
Location data, as defined by the DPC, includes any kind of data that can be used to infer a person's location. It can reveal significant private information. The report highlighted that Google's practices "infringed" GDPR regulations.
As per Graham Doyle, deputy commissioner of the DPC: "The GDPR provides a high level of protection of personal data throughout the EEA (European Economic Area), and requires that the processing of personal data must be carried out in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner."
He further added: "As a result of Google's failures... individuals could have been unaware 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. The retention of users' location data for longer than necessary aggravated this loss of control."
In addition to the fine, Google has been ordered to bring its data processing practices into compliance within six months.
How have Google responded?
Google, in a statement, acknowledged: "This case centres around historical policies that have since been updated. From 2019 onwards, we've significantly evolved our practices and launched robust tools that make managing location data simple." They also highlighted recent data protection improvements, including "industry-first auto-delete controls", which allows users to set their account for automatic deletion of data after three, 18, or 36 months.