WhatsApp fined $266 million by Ireland for breaching privacy laws
By Shubhangi on Sep 03, 2021 | 05:33 AM IST
WhatsApp
was fined 225 million euros ($266 million) on Thursday by the Irish data regulator
for breaching the company’s privacy policy.
WhatsApp
said it will appeal against the fine as it was “entirely disproportionate.”
The lead
data privacy regulator for Facebook with the European Union, Data Privacy
Commissioner (DPC) said the issues concerned on WhatsApp conforming to EU data
rules in 2018 about transparency.
"This includes information provided to data subjects
about the processing of information between WhatsApp and other Facebook
companies," the Irish regulator said in a statement.
WhatsApp spokesperson said the company had provided
comprehensive information in the 2018 case.
"We disagree with the decision today regarding the
transparency we provided to people in 2018 and the penalties are entirely
disproportionate," the spokesperson said.
The Irish agency had earlier fined Facebook’s WhatsApp a
fine 50 million euros which got criticized by others for not fining tech giants
enough for the breaches.
European Data Protection Board, the EU privacy watchdog said
the fine imposed on WhatsApp should also be based on the turnover of Facebook.
The Irish regulator said that European Data Protection
Board, in July, issued a "clear instruction that required the DPC to
reassess and increase its proposed fine on the basis of a number of factors
contained.”
"Following this reassessment the DPC has imposed a fine
of 225 million euros on WhatsApp," it said.
(With
inputs from Reuters)
Picture
Credits: Reuters