17/09/2021
By Leonardo Neri and Fernanda Lobato
After allegedly misusing personal data, Facebook was fined R$1.38 billion by the Irish government. This is the second largest fine in European history, behind only the R$4.6 billion fine imposed by Luxembourg on Amazon for violating rules regarding personal information.
The punishment against WhatsApp, a Facebook company, is the result of an investigation required by the European data protection committee and motivated by the platform's change in the use of private information.
In order for the administrative imposition to be legitimate, the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) began investigations at the end of 2018 to identify whether Facebook had complied with the requirements in a transparent manner and in good faith, as irregularities were found in the information that was transferred between the WhatsApp platform and that of other companies in the group.
With this, the DPC suggested that WhatsApp adapt to digital law measures for European and global standards, in addition to ratifying the fine of 225 million euros.
However, it is worth remembering that the company is American. In theory, it should be monitored by the American legal system. However, the Irish regulatory body has such jurisdiction, as Facebook has its European headquarters in Ireland.
The “European LGPD”, known as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), has been in force as an active regulation since 2018, when it began to involve consumer protection against digital multinationals and allow groups to be fined up to 4% on the value of their turnover.
The Irish Agency, in accordance with the GDPR, legally based its decision on the lack of transparency and compliance with the fundamental principles of data protection, especially those of fairness and responsibility.
The WhatsApp spokesperson stated that the group does not agree with the decision, stressing that the company will appeal to the competent jurisdiction, in addition to claiming that the fine applied by the regulatory body has a disproportionate financial nature with the reason raised.