Policy · 5h ago

Irish Regulator Hits Google Over Location Profiling

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission fined Google €403 million and gave it six months to bring location-data processing into GDPR compliance after examining Web & App Activity, Location History, and Location Accuracy from May 2018 through February 2020. The ruling turns a long-running inquiry into a formal sanction, and it lands on Google’s account-level controls rather than a single broken product.

The regulator said Google’s settings made location easier to collect, retain, and use than users would reasonably understand, including for ad influence and interest inference. In plain terms, the issue was not access to a map app but the way account toggles and telemetry could feed a broader profiling picture while people thought they had more control than they did.

For EU-facing ad-tech and location-based services, the case raises the bar on how consent, transparency, and retention have to line up with actual data use. If a product relies on account settings to justify location profiling, the exposure can persist even after the wording changes unless the underlying retention model changes too.

Timeline

• Sep 21 Reported by The Record from Recorded Future

Sources

5 sources covering this story

• The Record from Recorded Future Sep 21

  EU data regulator fines Google more than $460 million for location data violations

  Ireland’s Data Protection Commission will fine Google more than €403 million ($462 million) over the tech giant’s processing of location data, concluding an inquiry into the company that began in early 2020.

• The Hacker News Sep 21

  Google Fined €403 Million Over GDPR Violations Tied to Location Data

  Ireland's DPC fined Google €403 million over GDPR violations in how three features handled location data from 2018 to 2020.

• Infosecurity Magazine Sep 21

  Google Hit with €403m GDPR Fine Over Location Data Practices

  The Irish DPC found that Google users were unaware that their location was being used to influence them with ads

• Help Net Security Sep 21

  Google hit with €403 million GDPR fine over location tracking - Help Net Security

  Ireland’s DPC hits Google with a €403 million fine over location-data practices, ordering compliance with EU GDPR within 6 months.

• BleepingComputer Sep 21

  Google fined €403 million over location data privacy violations

  Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Google €403 million ($463M) for multiple GDPR violations related to processing users' location data.

Part of the PlainSec briefing for 2026-09-21

Editions

• Briefing for 2026-09-21