Social media network LinkedIn has been fined €310 million and ordered to change its practices for committing a “serious violation” of EU data law.
Ireland’s data protection agency says LinkedIn’s consent from users “was not freely given, sufficiently informed or specific, or unambiguous” for processing their data for “behavioural analysis and targeted advertising”.
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) investigated the company for breaches under the EU’s data protection GDPR rules after a complaint by French authorities.
Ireland took the lead because LinkedIn’s international headquarters are located in Dublin.
The DPC said the investigation considered the “lawfulness, fairness and transparency” of data processing.
“The inquiry examined LinkedIn’s processing of personal data for the purposes of behavioural analysis and targeted advertising of users who have created LinkedIn profiles (‘members’).”
“The decision [by the DPC] includes a reprimand, an order for LinkedIn to bring its processing into compliance, and administrative fines totalling €310 million.”
The Irish Data Protection Commission says LinkedIn breached GDPR requirements related to consent, legitimate interest, contractual necessity and the principle of fairness.
“The lawfulness of processing is a fundamental aspect of data protection law and 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.”, said Graham Doyle from the DPC.
A spokesperson for LinkedIn said:
“Today the Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC) reached a final decision on claims from 2018 about some of our digital advertising efforts in the EU. 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.”
LinkedIn presents itself as a social network for professionals. It recorded global annual revenue of more than $16 billion in August. The social media network has been owned by Microsoft since 2016.