1 minute read / October 24, 2024
The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has reprimanded and fined LinkedIn Ireland €310 million and ordered it to bring its data processes into line with European law after finding fault with the legal basis the Microsoft-owned social media company relied upon to process its members’ data for advertising and to track behaviours.
The DPC – the lead European supervisory authority for LinkedIn, which has its EU headquarters in Dublin – issued the ruling on foot of an investigation based on a complaint originally made to the French data watchdog in 2018.
In a statement on Thursday, the DPC said LinkedIn had obtained the consent of its users for their personal data to be sent to third parties for the purposes of generating targeting advertising. However, it found that consent was not “freely given, sufficiently informed or specific, or unambiguous”, as is required under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), for the information to be used for these purposes.
