WhatsApp, the instant messaging platform owned by Facebook, has been fined 225 million euros (approximately $267 million) by a data watchdog in Ireland for breaking the EU data privacy rules. This makes it the largest penalty handed out by the Irish data regulatory over General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) violation and the second-largest in EU.

Data Protection Commission of Ireland says that the Facebook-owned WhatsApp failed to tell its European Union citizens about what the company does with the data collection of the user, including how the details are collected and users, as well as how WhatsApp shares the user data with Facebook.

WhatsApp

The Irish authority had originally asked WhatsApp for a €50 million fine for breaking GDPR, but other data protection agencies pushing for a stiffer penalty. Now, the fine levied is more than four times the originally proposed.

In its order, the commission asked WhatsApp to tweak its privacy policies and how it communicates with users in order to make the platform compliant with Europe’s privacy law. This means that the messaging service may need to expand its privacy policy.

WhatsApp has said that the company will be filing an appeal over this verdict. The company’s spokesperson added, “WhatsApp is committed to providing a secure and private service. We have worked to ensure the information we provide is transparent and comprehensive and will continue to do so. We disagree with the decision today regarding the transparency we provided to people in 2018 and the penalties are entirely disproportionate.”

The company has revealed on its website that it shares information like phone numbers, transaction data, business interactions, mobile device information, IP addresses, and other information with Facebook. The firm emphasizes that it does not share personal conversations, location data, or call logs.

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