Irish data privacy watchdog fines WhatsApp € 225m

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

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

The Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), who is the main data privacy regulator for Facebook in the European Union, said problems with WhatsApp’s compliance in 2018 with the rules of the EU on data transparency.

“This includes information provided to data subjects about the handling of information between WhatsApp and other Facebook companies,” the Irish regulator said in a statement.

A spokesperson for WhatsApp said in a statement that the issues in question relate to policies in place in 2018.

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

“We do not agree with today’s ruling on the transparency we offered to people in 2018 and the sanctions are grossly disproportionate,” the spokesperson said.

The Irish DPC takes the lead in data privacy for Facebook, as 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 tech giants and not fining them enough for any breach.

Data regulators in eight other European countries have triggered a dispute resolution mechanism after Ireland shared its tentative decision on the WhatsApp investigation, which began in December 2018.

In July, a meeting of the European Data Protection Board issued a “clear instruction demanding that the DPC reassess and increase its proposed fine on the basis of a number of contained factors,” the Irish regulator said.

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

The Irish regulator also imposed a reprimand and an injunction on WhatsApp to bring its treatment into compliance by taking “a series of specified corrective measures”.

The Irish regulator had opened 14 major investigations into Facebook and its affiliates WhatsApp and Instagram at the end of last year.

($ 1 = 0.8444 euros)

Reporting by Conor Humphries and Graham Fahy; Editing by David Clarke

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