136
Lots of commentators are speculating as to when the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office will issue its first ‘post-GDPR’ monetary penalties, but pity the ICO’s Irish equivalent the Data Protection Commission (DPC).
Under the GDPR ‘one stop shop’ rules the Irish DPC is the lead regulator responsible for handling data privacy concerns and complaints raised by citizens in other EU countries about multinationals whose European base is in Ireland. The list of high-profile US technology firms based in Ireland with massive user reach and data influence includes Facebook & WhatsApp, Apple, Microsoft, Twitter, Dropbox, Airbnb, LinkedIn, Oath and Match Group (owner of Tinder and other dating sites). The DPC received 136 complaints about organisations like them in the period from ‘GDPR Day’ in May 2018 until the end of the year.
It now has the unenviable task of investigating these complaints and adjudicating on the behaviour of some massive corporations, making decisions which will have significant impacts on the big platforms, their customers and digital marketing – all in the knowledge that the Irish state isn’t even collecting much tax revenues for its labours…
www.dataprotection.ie/en/news-media/press-releases/dpc-publishes-annual-report-25-may-31-december-2018
