Google's collection of Australians' user location data attracts $60 million fine

This update outlines the judgment on penalty of the Federal Court of Australia in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Google LLC (No 4) [2022] FCA 942 which was handed down on 12 August 2022. The court ordered Google LLC to pay $60 million in penalties for engaging in conduct in relation to its data location collection practices on Android phones between January 2017 and December 2018 that was misleading and in contravention of section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). The penalty judgment followed the liability judgment which was delivered on 16 April 2021, in Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Google LLC (No 2) [2021] FCA 367.