Tech giant Google has been fined €403 million by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) of Ireland over the processing of location data, RTE television reports.

Under data protection rules, such information must be processed in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner.

The DPC said that its investigation into Google found failures in this regard meaning that people could 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.

The investigation was launched by the DPC in February 2020, following receipt of complaints from several European consumer rights organizations regarding Google’s processing of location data in connection with certain services and products.

As a result, the DPC has imposed fines totaling €403 million and has ordered Google to bring its processing into compliance within six months.