Thursday, September 02, 2021

Violation of data protection
WhatsApp fined Ireland record

This is the second highest data protection fine ever imposed in Europe: 225 million euros. WhatsApp was expecting a significant reduction in the transfer of personal data to Facebook. Data protection activists are still demanding higher fines.

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined WhatsApp Ireland a record 5 225 million for violating the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The company has violated EU’s strict data protection regulations regarding the transparency of the transfer of personal data to other Facebook companies. The Supervisory Authority has directed the Messenger service, which belongs to the Facebook group, to change its data processing.

WhatsApp said it would take legal action against the fine. One does not agree with the decision. The penalty is not entirely proportional. Irish privacy spokesmen have never before imposed such a large fine. Across Europe, the only fine imposed on Amazon was by data protection officers in Luxembourg. The Luxembourg Authority fined the Internet group 74 746 million this summer.

The Irish Data Protection Commission DPC oversees not only the lead supervisory authority for Whatsapp in Europe, but the entire Facebook group. She is also responsible for other US tech giants such as Apple, which has their European office in Ireland.

The penalty is only 0.08 percent of sales

In the first response, data protection activist Max Shrems welcomed the decision in Dublin. However, since 2018, the DPC has received tens of thousands of complaints a year, and only now has it imposed large fines. Shrems recalled that the Irish initially only proposed a fine of 50 million euros. “Other European data protection authorities have forced you to increase the fine to 225 million.” Even 225 million euros is still only 0.08 percent of the Facebook group’s turnover, Shrems stressed. “It imposes fines of up to 4 per cent of GDPR sales. All this shows that the Irish Data Protection Agency is still very inactive.”

The decision by the authorities shows just how shocking Whatsapp Ireland is with only 77.5 million euros in fines on the company’s balance sheet. “We have worked to ensure that the information we provide is transparent and comprehensive,” said RTE, a spokesman for RTE, the public broadcaster of the Republic of Ireland.