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| WhatsApp fined 267 million dollars in Europe |
The Irish Data Protection Commission has announced the results of its investigation into the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on Facebook's WhatsApp app.
The Commission's investigation began on December 10, 2018 and examined whether the messaging service complies with the transparency obligations contained in the GDPR regarding the provision of information and the transparency of such information to its users and non-users of the service.
This also includes information that is provided to the data subject in order to process information between the Service and other Facebook companies.
After a long and in-depth examination, the Commission submitted a draft resolution to all responsible regulatory authorities in December 2020.
The committee received objections from eight regulatory bodies. The Commission was unable to reach agreement with all relevant supervisory authorities on the subject matter of the objection and commenced dispute resolution procedures on 3 June 2021.
On 28 July 2021, the European Data Protection Committee (EDPB) issued a binding decision and communicated the decision to the Board of Directors.
The decision contains clear instructions asking the Commission to re-evaluate and increase the proposed fine on the basis of several factors set out in the European Data Protection Council decision.
After the reassessment, the Irish Data Protection Commission fined WhatsApp 225 million euros ($267 million).
WhatsApp fined 267 million dollars in Europe
The committee stressed that the service does not properly inform EU citizens about the handling of their personal data. Including disclosure of this information to the parent company.
The commission also condemned the extradition order for meeting the requirements through a number of specific corrective actions.
The Service needs to update its privacy policy and change the way users are notified of their data being disclosed.
This means that the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law has been complied with. It regulates the way technology companies collect and use data in the European Union.
The GDPR law went into effect in May 2018. The courier company is one of the first to have privacy concerns under the regulations.
A WhatsApp spokesperson said the company is appealing the decision. In addition, WhatsApp is committed to providing secure and private services. We ensure that the information we provide is transparent and complete, and we will continue to do so. We do not agree with our decision to provide transparency to people in 2018 and the penalties are completely disproportionate.