- Topics
- Regions
- Events
- Webcasts
- Resources
- CW Exclusives
- Membership
“For tracking litigation, enforcement, and regulatory developments, Compliance Week
should be your prime source.”- Chief Compliance Officer and VP of Legal Affairs, Arrow Electronics
WhatsApp fined $5.9M for lawful processing GDPR violations
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
You are not logged in and do not have access to members-only content.
If you are already a registered user or a member, SIGN IN now.
Related articles
-
News BriefNorwegian DPA threatens Meta with fines over behavioral advertising
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.
-
News BriefMeta fined $414M for targeted advertising GDPR breaches
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.
-
ArticleMeta fined $274M under GDPR for data scraping breach
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.
More from Regulatory Enforcement
-
News BriefFCA dings Infinox in first fine under U.K. capital market reforms of 2018
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority issued a landmark fine against trading platform Infinox Capital for failing to report “high-risk” transactions, the first-ever enforcement under a 2018 law.
-
News BriefKuCoin latest crypto firm to pay hefty price for violating BSA with $297M penalty
The Sechelles-based owner of cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has agreed to pay nearly $300 million in penalties–and cease doing business in the U.S. for two years–to settle charges that it failed to properly monitor potential criminal activity on its network.
-
News BriefDOJ indicts five in remote IT work scheme to circumvent North Korean sanctions
Five people, including two Americans, allegedly duped U.S. companies into hiring North Koreans for contract IT work, and funneled millions in U.S. dollars to the sanctioned regime, the Department of Justice said.