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As a result of these infringements, Google users may have been “unaware that 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”, said DPC deputy commissioner Graham Doyle in a statement.
Under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the processing of such data must be lawful, fair and transparent.
The DPC said its investigation, which began in 2020 and covers the period from the introduction of GDPR in May 2018 to February 4th 2020, found that Google infringed the GDPR by processing users’ location data unlawfully and unfairly through three features: web and app activity, location history and location accuracy.
“Location data is a type of personal data which is processed by way of location tracking, and includes data collected or processed by Google, which, by itself or in conjunction with other information, an individual’s location can be inferred,” Doyle said.
This article was aggregated automatically by CyberWire Daily's newsfeed engine. Original reporting: www.irishtimes.com.
