Ireland: fine of 225 million euros for the WhatsApp application
The WhatsApp application is fined 225 million euros in Ireland, this Thursday, September 2, 2021. © Patrick Sison / AP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
The WhatsApp messaging app is sentenced to 225 million euros in Ireland for failing to comply with EU data protection regulations.
The decision was eagerly awaited by all European regulators.
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With our correspondent in Dublin,
Émeline Vin
WhatsApp has not sufficiently informed its subscribers about the use made of their data.
In 2018, the messaging network, owned by Facebook, provided less than half of the information required by the European data protection regulation, according to the Irish regulator.
It is the Irish who are the authorities on all the European activities of the application since WhatsApp is headquartered in Dublin.
A reassessed fine
The Data Protection Commission has wanted to condemn the group since December 2020. But the initial fine, 100 million euros, was deemed too low by other European regulators, who regularly accuse the DPC of being too lenient vis-à-vis digital giants.
Revised upwards to 225 million euros, the fine is the highest imposed in Ireland.
Europe-wide, only Amazon suffered a higher penalty - 746 million euros, in Luxembourg, earlier this year.
WhatsApp will appeal this ruling, which is deemed to be unfair.
In 2019, for similar facts, Google was sentenced to "
only
" 50 million euros in fines.
►Also read: In the United States, a judge dismisses the complaints against Facebook for infringement of competition
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