According to reports, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) today imposed a record fine of 225 million euros (approximately US$266 million) on Facebook’s instant messaging app WhatsApp. Prior to this, WhatsApp was investigated for the transparency of sharing personal data with other Facebook subsidiaries. Regarding the fine decision, WhatsApp stated that the amount of the fine is completely disproportionate and will appeal.
According to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Irish DPC is responsible for the management of American multinational companies headquartered in Dublin, so it is also the main supervisory authority for Facebook in the European Union. DPC stated that the investigation on WhatsApp was related to whether it complied with EU data rules on transparency in 2018.
A WhatsApp spokesperson said in a statement: We do not agree with the fine, and the fine is completely disproportionate. In addition to the fine, the Irish DPC also condemned WhatsApp and ordered WhatsApp to take a series of specific remedial actions to make its data processing process compliant.
By the end of last year, the Irish DPC had launched a total of 14 major investigations on Facebook and its subsidiaries WhatsApp and Instagram.
