- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
By 
Neil Hodge2023-01-19T18:21:00
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) on Thursday announced a fine of 5.5 million euros (U.S. $5.9 million) against WhatsApp under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for forcing users to consent to updated terms and conditions or lose access to the service.
The penalty is the third the Irish DPC has assessed against Meta businesses this year for similar violations of the GDPR. On Jan. 4, the regulator announced fines of €210 million (then-U.S. $223 million) against Facebook and €180 million (then-U.S. $191 million) against Instagram. Meta plans to appeal all three fines.
As part of the enforcement action, WhatsApp was ordered to bring its data processing operations into compliance within six months. A WhatsApp spokesperson said the company “strongly believes that the way the service operates is both technically and legally compliant” and disagreed with the decision.
THIS IS MEMBERS-ONLY CONTENT. To continue reading, choose one of the options below.
News and analysis for the well-informed compliance or audit exec. Select an option and click continue.
Annual Membership $499 Value offer
Full price one year membership with auto-renewal.
Membership $599
One-year only, no auto-renewal.
The Norwegian Data Protection Authority is set to impose a temporary ban on Meta carrying out behavioral advertising on Facebook and Instagram using the personal information of users in the country.
The Irish Data Protection Commission fined Meta Ireland a total of €390 million (U.S. $414 million) for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation by forcing users to agree their personal data can be used for targeted advertising to access Facebook and Instagram.
Meta Platforms Ireland was fined €265 million (U.S. $274 million) for failing to put in place adequate measures to protect users’ data after a leak compromised the personal details of more than half a billion individuals.
Three months after a U.S. district judge declared Google to be running a monopoly, the Department of Justice recommended the tech giant be forced to sell off its popular Chrome browser as part of an effort to resolve antitrust concerns and reshape the power of tech’s biggest companies.
A bank examiner and senior manager at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond pled guilty to insider trading after allegedly misappropriating confidential information on seven banks to make profitable trades.
New York-based investment firm Drexel Hamilton will pay more than $1.1 million in penalties, with four current and former employees paying fines as well over committing hundreds of violations of rules regarding the sale of municipal bonds.
