Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Fined $1.23 Million by Spain for Violating Data Protection Laws

Google received a fine by Spain's privacy watchdog due to violating the country's data protections laws.

According to the Spanish Agency for Data Protection, Google combined personal information from many of its different online services whilst failing to inform users on how the search engine company utilized their data.

"Inspections have shown that Google compiles personal information through close to one hundred services and products it offers in Spain, without providing in many cases the adequate information about the data that is being gathered, why it is gathered and without obtaining the consent of the owners," said the Spanish Agency for Data Protection in a statement, via Reuters.

The Spanish agency started to investigate Google after the company initiated new terms of service in March 2012 for users utilizing its cloud services, including Gmail, YouTube, and search engine results.

Google stated it has complied with Spanish authorities during the investigation and will take action accordingly once the company fully reads the agency's report.

The fine comes after the Dutch Data Protection Authority also found Google guilty of violating its national data privacy law for the same reasons in Spain. France is reportedly in the process to also deliver a fine against Google.

Ultimately, the Spanish Agency for Data Protection fined 900,000 euros, which is approximately $1.23 million dollars. Google is worth more than $350 billion.

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