Google Reviews, the rule of Law, and Big Tech having a laugh
We note that today the office of the Irish Data Protection Commission levied a fine of €225m on Whatsapp, a messaging arm of Facebook. This was done in the context of outrage from a number of other European Data Protection Commissioners. They felt quite rightfully that the original proposed fine of €30m was far too low given the revenues of Facebook. It was not a sufficient incentive to obey the law.
Overall, it looks very bad for Ireland that the Irish DPC had to be dragged kicking a screaming to levy a sensible fine for egregious breaches of European law. None […]