Ireland Fines Google €403M Over Historical Location Tracking Practices
The Data Protection Commission ruled that Google breached GDPR transparency and lawfulness mandates across three location-tracking features between 2018 and 2020.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission has fined Google LLC €403 million (approximately $462 million) for collecting user location data in violation of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, according to a report by SiliconANGLE (https://siliconangle.com/2026/09/21/google-fined-462m-in-ireland-over-location-data-collection-practices/).
The penalty follows an investigation opened in 2020 that examined Google's data handling between May 25, 2018—the date GDPR took effect—and February 4, 2020. Regulators found that Google breached the regulation's lawfulness, fairness, and transparency principle, which requires companies to provide clear disclosures regarding what personal metrics they collect and how long that data is retained.
Regulators identified non-compliant practices across three Google features: Web & App Activity, Timeline, and Google Location Accuracy (GLA).
Web & App Activity is an account-level setting that logs user activity and location data to tailor search results and target advertising, such as surfacing nearby retail listings. Timeline, an opt-in feature, logs device positioning over time to generate historical travel maps for users.
The third feature, Google Location Accuracy, is an internal Android service designed to determine device position using GPS. When satellite reception is unavailable indoors, GLA estimates coordinates using signal strength from cellular towers and Wi-Fi networks, referencing network identifiers such as router MAC addresses.
In addition to the financial sanction, the DPC ordered Google to bring its data collection practices into full compliance with GDPR within six months.
Google defended its current systems in a statement, emphasizing that the regulatory action addressed outdated processes: “this case centres around historical policies that have since been updated.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.”
Sources
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