Europe’s top privacy regulator said on Thursday it has imposed a 310 million euro ($335 million) fine on Microsoft’s professional network LinkedIn for its practice of targeted advertising.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) is the European Union’s top privacy regulator for most major US Internet companies because of the location of their EU operations in the country. DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said in a statement:
The processing of personal data without an appropriate legal basis is a clear and serious violation of a data subjects’ fundamental right to data protection.
Last year, Microsoft said it expected to pay a fine of about $425 million over a potential penalty from the Irish regulator for its LinkedIn unit.
LinkedIn said in a statement:
While we believe we have been in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we are working to ensure our ad practices meet this decision by the IDPC’s deadline.
The Irish Data Protection Commission has launched an investigation into LinkedIn’s data handling practices following a complaint to the French data regulator. LinkedIn, like many other major tech companies, is headquartered in Ireland, meaning local regulators are tasked with overseeing compliance with EU rules.
