The Irish data privacy surveillance dog fines WhatsApp with 225 million euros

DUBLIN, September 2 (Reuters) – Ireland attacked Facebook’s WhatsApp (FB.O) with a record fine of 225 million euros ($ 266 million) on Thursday following an investigation into the transparency of the application of messaging about sharing personal data with other Facebook companies.

WhatsApp said the fine was “totally disproportionate” and that it would appeal.

The Irish Commissioner for Data Privacy (DPC), which is Facebook’s top data privacy regulator within the European Union, said issues related to whether WhatsApp complied in 2018 with EU data rules on transparency.

“This includes information provided to stakeholders on the processing of information between WhatsApp and other Facebook companies,” the Irish regulator said in a statement.

A WhatsApp spokesman said in a statement that the issues in question were related to the policies in place in 2018.

“WhatsApp is committed to providing a private and secure service. We have worked to ensure that the information we provide is transparent and complete and will continue to do so,” the spokesman said.

“We do not agree with today’s decision on transparency that we have provided to the people in 2018 and the sanctions are totally disproportionate,” the spokesman’s statement said.

The DPC of Ireland takes the lead in Facebook’s data privacy because the company’s regional headquarters are in Dublin.

The DPC has been criticized in the past by other European regulators for taking too long to make decisions involving technology giants and for not fining them enough for breaches.

Data regulators from eight other European countries activated a dispute resolution mechanism after Ireland shared its interim decision in relation to the WhatsApp investigation, which began in December 2018.

In July, a meeting of the European Data Protection Board issued a “clear instruction forcing the DPC to re-evaluate and increase its proposed fine based on a number of contained factors,” the Irish regulator said.

“Following this reassessment, the DPC has imposed a € 225 million fine on WhatsApp,” he said.

The Irish regulator also imposed a reprimand along with an order for WhatsApp to comply with its processing by taking “a series of specified corrective actions”.

The Irish regulator had 14 major inquiries about Facebook and its WhatsApp and Instagram subsidiaries opened late last year.

($ 1 = 0.8444 euros)

Reports by Conor Humphries and Graham Fahy; Edited by David Clarke

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