Ireland's data protection commissioner said on Thursday it had imposed a €310 million fine on LinkedIn. The social networking site, owned by Microsoft, is to pay for its advertising practices and processing of personal data.
As Reuters points out, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) is in practice the main body in the European Union responsible for controlling the application of regulations by leading American technology companies. This is related to the location of their headquarters in the EU Ireland.
“The processing of personal data without an appropriate legal basis constitutes a clear and serious breach of the fundamental right of data subjects,” DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said in a statement.
The penalty is smaller than expected
Last year, Microsoft said it expected the potential fine imposed by the authority for LinkedIn's activities to be approximately $425 million. The current amount, after converting euros into dollars, is USD 335 million.
“While we believe we have complied with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we are working to ensure that our advertising practices are in line with the authority's decision,” LinkedIn said in a statement.
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