Google fined €403 million in Ireland over location data practices, must comply in 6 months

European regulators imposed a major sanction on Google over users’ location information with a penalty of €403 million ($459 million). Google has six months to make its location-data practices compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation.

Here’s what to know

Since Google’s European headquarters are in Dublin, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission acts as the company’s lead EU regulator. The fine was issued after a lengthy review of Google’s location information process.

The GDPR is intended to require clear consent, fair processing, and limits on data retention. The inquiry, as Engadget reported, opened in 2020 and examined Google’s practices from May 2018 to February 2020.

There were issues with location accuracy, which can identify an Android device more precisely than GPS; location history, an opt-in log of places a user has been; and web and app activity, which records activity across Google services.

For location accuracy, the DPC said…