The Australian Federal Court ruled that Google must pay roughly $43 million in damages for misleading users about how it collected their location data, Reuters reported.

According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Friday statement, Google violated consumer laws from 2017 to 2018 by suggesting to Android users that disabling the "location history" setting would stop all data collection.

However, disabling the feature reportedly still allowed local data collection and storage – with another "Web & App Activity" setting buried deeper preventing the rest.

"This significant penalty imposed by the Court today sends a strong message to digital platforms and other businesses, large and small, that they must not mislead consumers about how their data is being collected and used," ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb stated.

"Personal location data is sensitive and important to some consumers, and some of the users who saw the representations may have made different choices about the collection, storage and use of their location data if the misleading representations had not been made by Google," she added.

Close to 1.3 million Australian users are estimated to have been affected by how Google presented its location security settings, per the ACCC.

A Google spokesperson told SFGATE that the company took steps toward the end of 2018 to fix the information found to be misleading, and have since simplifyed how users can manage their location data.

"We've invested heavily in making location information simple to manage and easy to understand with industry-first tools like auto-delete controls, while significantly minimizing the amount of data stored," the spokesperson said. "As we've demonstrated, we're committed to making ongoing updates that give users control and transparency, while providing the most helpful products possible."

Meanwhile, Google is facing several legal challenges in the U.S. Attorneys general in Indiana, Texas, Washington, and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits earlier this year against the company for allegedly discouraging users from protecting their privacy.

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