DPC (Ireland) - Meta Platforms

DPC (Ireland) - Meta Platforms

Authority:	DPC (Ireland)
Jurisdiction:	Ireland
Relevant Law:	Article 5(1)(f) GDPR Article 5(2) GDPR Article 24(1) GDPR Article 32(1) GDPR Article 60 GDPR
Type:	Investigation
Outcome:	Violation Found
Started:	07.06.2018
Decided:	15.03.2022
Published:	15.03.2022
Fine:	17,000,000 EUR
Parties:	Meta Platforms
National Case Number/Name:	Meta Platforms
European Case Law Identifier:	n/a
Appeal:	n/a
Original Language(s):	English
Original Source:	DPC (Press release) (in EN)
Initial Contributor:	kc

The Irish DPA fined Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook Ireland Limited) €17,000,000 for failing to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures in order to protect EU users' data, in violation of Articles 5(2) and 24(1) GDPR.

English Summary

Facts

The Irish DPA (DPC) investigated a series of twelve data breach notifications it received in the six month period between 7 June 2018 and 4 December 2018. The inquiry examined the extent to which Meta Platforms complied with the requirements of Articles 5(1)(f), 5(2), 24(1) and 32(1) GDPR in relation to the processing of personal data relevant to the twelve breach notifications.

Holding

The DPC fined Meta Platforms €17,000,000 for the violation of Article 5(2) GDPR and Article 24(1) GDPR for failing to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures which would enable it to readily demonstrate the security measures that it implemented in practice to protect EU users’ data, in the context of the twelve personal data breaches.

The DPC's decision was subject to the co-decision-making process outlined in Article 60 GDPR and all of the other European supervisory authorities were engaged as co-decision-makers since the processing under examination constituted cross-border processing. While objections to the DPC’s draft decision were raised by two of the European supervisory authorities, consensus was achieved through further engagement between the DPC and the supervisory authorities concerned.

Comment

So far, only the press release is available.

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English Machine Translation of the Decision

The decision below is a machine translation of the English original. Please refer to the English original for more details.

Data Protection Commission announces decision in Meta (Facebook) inquiry

15th March 2022

The DPC has today adopted a decision, imposing a fine of €17m on Meta Platforms Ireland Limited (formerly Facebook Ireland Limited) (“Meta Platforms”).

The decision followed an inquiry by the DPC into a series of twelve data breach notifications it received in the six month period between 7 June 2018 and 4 December 2018.  The inquiry examined the extent to which Meta Platforms complied with the requirements of GDPR Articles 5(1)(f), 5(2), 24(1) and 32(1) in relation to the processing of personal data relevant to the twelve breach notifications.

As a result of its inquiry, the DPC found that Meta Platforms infringed Articles 5(2) and 24(1) GDPR.  The DPC found that Meta Platforms failed to have in place appropriate technical and organisational measures which would enable it to readily demonstrate the security measures that it implemented in practice to protect EU users’ data, in the context of the twelve personal data breaches.

Given that the processing under examination constituted “cross-border” processing, the DPC’s decision was subject to the co-decision-making process outlined in Article 60 GDPR and all of the other European supervisory authorities were engaged as co-decision-makers.  While objections to the DPC’s draft decision were raised by two of the European supervisory authorities, consensus was achieved through further engagement between the DPC and the supervisory authorities concerned.  Accordingly, the DPC’s decision represents the collective views of both the DPC and its counterpart supervisory authorities throughout the EU. 

Separately, the DPC has today published a statistical report on handling cross-border complaints under the GDPR’s One-Stop-Shop mechanism (see link below).

https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/news-media/press-releases/dpc-publishes-statistical-report-handling-cross-border-complaints-under-gdprs-one-stop-shop-oss