The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has caused Meta to receive another bill, but this one is only a small fine! The leading data protection regulator for the tech giant in the region has fined Meta-owned messaging service WhatsApp €5.5 million (roughly $6 million) for processing certain types of personal data without a valid legal basis.
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) issued a legally binding decision in December ordering Meta’s top regulator, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), to rule definitively on this complaint, which was filed in May 2018, as well as two other complaints against Facebook and Instagram. The DPC made those two final decisions earlier this month when it announced a total of €310 million in fines and gave Meta three months to find a legitimate legal justification for processing those ads.