DPC Fines WhatsApp Further €5.5m Over GDPR Breaches – Business Plus Magazine

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined WhatsApp Ireland Ltd €5.5m for breaches of GDRP and ordered the messaging app to bring its data processing operations into compliance within six months. It is the latest fine handed down to a subsidiary of Meta Platforms by the data watchdog after Facebook and Instagram were hit with fines totalling €390m this month. WhatsApp was previously fined €225m by the DPC in 2021 for privacy breaches. Like the Facebook and Instagram fines, the €5.5m WhatsApp sanction was issued by the regulator after consulting with counterpart organisations in the EU and referring the case to the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). The initial complaint was filed on behalf of German users when GDPR came into effect in May 2018, arguing that WhatApp had relied on users agreeing to its terms of service to provide a legal basis for its processing of their data. The complainant said that by making WhatsApp services conditional on accepting the terms of service, the company was forcing them to consent to the processing of their data for service improvement and security, arguing that this was in breach of GDPR. Following its investigation, the DPC prepared a draft decision for
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