EU’s Tough Data Privacy Rules Rake in Biggest Annual Fines
- Regulators levied some $1.3 billion in GDPR fines during 2021
- Report says fines over privacy issues rose sevenfold from 2020
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European Union data protection fines targeting Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc.’s WhatsApp helped push penalties to record levels last year, in a sign that the bloc’s tough privacy rules are starting to bite.
Luxembourg’s data protection authority last year slapped Amazon with its biggest fine since the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation took effect almost four years ago. The U.S. online retailer is challenging the 746 million-euro ($851 million) penalty. The Irish watchdog followed with the second-highest EU fine against WhatsApp, ordering it to pay 225 million euros for failing to be transparent about how it handled personal data.