Irish Data Protection Commission Fines LinkedIn Ireland EUR 310 Mln Over Targeted Advertising

(RTTNews) - Microsoft-owned employment-focused social media platform LinkedIn was fined 310 million euros (about $335 million) for privacy violations related to its tracking ads business.

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) Thursday announced its final decision following an inquiry into LinkedIn Ireland Unlimited Company.

This inquiry was launched by the DPC following a complaint initially made to the French Data Protection Authority.

The inquiry examined LinkedIn's processing of personal data for the purposes of behavioral analysis and targeted advertising of users who have created LinkedIn profiles.

The decision, which was made by the Commissioners for Data Protection, Dr Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland, and notified to LinkedIn on 22 October 2024, concerns the lawfulness, fairness and transparency of this processing.

"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 subject's fundamental right to data protection," DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said.