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DPC imposed fines of €652 million in 2024

The data-protection watchdog imposed fines totalling €652 million last year, according to its annual report.

This was down from the previous year’s €1.55 billion, which included a fine of €1.2 billion for Meta after a GDPR inquiry into the company’s data transfers from the EU to the US.

Valid notifications of breaches of data rules to the Data Protection Commission (DPC) last year rose by 11% compared with 2023 to 7,781.

Its annual report states that 81% of these notifications had been concluded by the end of 2024.

Cross-border complaints

Overall, it received just over 11,000 new cases, 2,673 of which progressed to its formal complaints-handling process. Of the new cases, almost 8,500 were settled amicably.

The DPC also concluded 145 valid cross-border complaints, where it was the EU/EEA’s lead supervisory authority.

The report says 82% of such cross-border complaints received since 2018 have now been concluded.

LinkedIn fined

The DPC fines last year were a result of 11 finalised inquiry decisions.

They included a penalty of €310 million for LinkedIn after an inquiry into how it was using data for behavioural analysis and targeted advertising, and a fine of €251 million for Meta linked to two breaches concerning user tokens.

The commission also concluded 146 electronic direct-marketing investigations and prosecuted eight companies for the sending of unsolicited marketing communications without consent.

More staff ‘critical’

Writing in the foreword to the report, chair and commissioner Dr Des Hogan said staff numbers at the watchdog had risen from 210 to 251 by the end of 2024, but he added that further staff increases would be needed.

‘In light of new responsibilities and a significantly additional workload for the DPC as a result of the AI Act and other digital regulations, as well as the already substantial and increasing workload associated with our EU lead authority role and across all functions more generally, it is critical that we continue to receive funding increases enabling the expansion of our workforce,” he stated.

Dr Hogan said that the Government’s continuing support would be “critical” to the DPC’s ability to meet its EU-wide responsibilities.