LinkedIn must pay a fine of 310 million euros

The company allegedly unlawfully obtained users' consent to process their personal data for advertising purposes.

Linkedin, the US subsidiary of Microsoft, is set to pay a fine of 310 million euros in the European Union for data protection violations. The Irish data protection authority IDPC announced on Thursday that the company illegally obtained users' consent to process their personal data for advertising purposes. In addition to the fine, LinkedIn must immediately stop the data protection violations.

A spokesperson for the Irish regulator said: “Processing personal data without an appropriate legal basis is a clear and serious breach of fundamental rights.” In detail, data protection officials criticized the fact that certain options were already pre-selected in the setup options. In some cases, LinkedIn also considers continued use of the service as acceptance of the advertising terms and conditions.

LinkedIn claims to have complied with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

LinkedIn believes it has complied with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). However, we are “working to ensure our advertising choices comply with this decision by the IDPC deadline,” LinkedIn said in a statement.

The actions of Irish data protection officers are based on a complaint filed by French organization La Quadrature du Net. In addition to LinkedIn, activists also complained about services provided by Google, Apple, Meta, and Amazon. The responsible French authority referred the file to the Irish. Most major technology companies are based in Ireland in Europe due to preferential taxation, which is why the authorities there are responsible. (Abba)