LinkedIn has been fined €310 million ($335 million) by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) for allegedly using its members’ data for advertising purposes without proper consent. The fine follows an investigation into the company’s data processing practices, which the DPC concluded violated the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
According to the DPC, LinkedIn’s actions involved the processing of user data for behavioral analysis and targeted advertising without providing adequate transparency or obtaining consent. The fine represents one of the largest penalties imposed on a tech company for non-compliance with GDPR.
The data in question included information that users directly provided to LinkedIn, as well as data obtained from third-party partners. The DPC’s investigation found that LinkedIn lacked a lawful basis for collecting and using the data for these purposes, prompting the regulatory body to instruct the company to revise its practices.
In its ruling, the DPC stated that the consent LinkedIn obtained was not “freely given, sufficiently informed, specific, or unambiguous,” as required by GDPR standards.
The investigation, which began following complaints lodged with a French regulator in 2018, was subsequently transferred to the DPC, which oversees Microsoft, LinkedIn’s parent company.
In response to the fine, LinkedIn has stated that it believes its practices were in compliance with GDPR but is working to meet the DPC’s demands for changes. A spokesperson for the company emphasized their commitment to aligning their advertising practices with the new requirements.
Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle of the DPC emphasized that processing personal data without a lawful basis is a significant violation of data protection rights. This fine adds to the growing list of GDPR enforcement actions, including a €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) penalty against Meta in 2023 for transferring Facebook users’ data outside the EU, and a €746 million ($815 million) fine against Amazon in 2021 for similar consent violations.
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