Following an inquiry into the WhatsApp’s transparency around sharing personal data with other Facebook companies, Ireland fined Facebook’s WhatsApp a record 225 million euro ($266 million) fine on Thursday.
WhatsApp has stated that the fine is “entirely disproportionate” and that it will file an appeal.
According to Ireland’s Data Privacy Commissioner (DPC), which is the lead data privacy regulator for Facebook within the European Union, said that the issues revolved around whether WhatsApp complied with EU data transparency rules in 2018.
The Irish regulator said in a statement “This includes information provided to data subjects about the processing of information between WhatsApp and other Facebook companies,”
In a statement, a WhatsApp spokeswoman said the issues in question were due to policies in place in 2018.
The spokesperson said “WhatsApp is committed to providing a secure and private service. We have worked to ensure the information we provide is transparent and comprehensive and will continue to do so,”
The spokesperson’s statement said “We disagree with the decision today regarding the transparency we provided to people in 2018 and the penalties are entirely disproportionate,”
Other European regulators have previously chastised the DPC for taking too long to reach rulings concerning Facebook and for not fining them harshly enough for any violations.
After Ireland shared its provisional verdict in respect to the WhatsApp investigation, which began in December 2018, data authorities from eight other European countries activated a dispute resolution mechanism.