WhatsApp was fined 225 millions for violating the EU's data privacy laws by failing to inform its users about how it shared their data with Facebook.
After being pressured by other European countries, the Irish data regulator imposed a penalty four times greater than the original proposal for the messaging service.
After Amazon was fined by Luxembourg for violating the GDPR in July, and Ireland for failing to inform regulators of a data leak in December, the WhatsApp ruling was made.
More than twenty-six investigations are ongoing by the Irish Data Protection Commission into large tech companies. Amazon said that it would appeal the fine.
After a two year investigation, Ireland ordered WhatsApp Ireland to comply with the GDPR by ordering it to update its data sharing with Facebook. WhatsApp's requirement that users consent to sharing their personal data with Facebook, which was heavily criticised earlier in the year, was widely criticized.
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The European Data Protection Board demanded that WhatsApp's data-sharing practices and its parent company be investigated in July.
WhatsApp criticized the fine and claimed it had met transparency requirements in 2018. These penalties are completely excessive. The company stated that they will appeal the decision.
Although the Irish authority initially asked WhatsApp for a fine of 50 million for violating GDPR, it soon came under pressure by other data protection agencies and demanded a more severe penalty.
Ulrich Kelber (Germany's chief data protection watchdog) wrote to the European Parliament in March to point out the lack of action by the Irish authority regarding GDPR abuses.
He stated that Germany had sent over 50 complaints regarding WhatsApp to Dublin alone, and none of these had been resolved.
WhatsApp stated that it is committed to providing a private and secure service.
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