Google has been ordered by the Federal Court in Australia to pay A$60 million ($42.7 million) in penalties, for misleading users on collection of their personal location data.
The court found Google had misled some customers into believing the “location history” setting on their android phones was the only way location data could be collected by the company, when such data was also being collected via other methods.
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) estimates that 1.3 million Google account users in Australia may have been affected, and launched proceedings against the company in October 2019.
The ACCC confirmed that Google had taken remedial measures in 2018.
The judgement is the latest challenge faced by Google over its operations in Australia, with the search engine giant clashing directly with the Australian government over the past year over plans to force it to pay media companies for featuring their content.
Google said in a statement that it consider the matter settled, adding that it has made location information simple to manage and easy to understand.