Many American technology companies are headquartered in Ireland. The DPC is the EU’s main regulatory body responsible for monitoring compliance with the GDPR and is empowered to impose fines. GDPR rules came into force across the EU in 2018.
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The investigation is the result of a complaint that Instagram made contact information for accounts available so that it was accessible to anyone who signed up for the application. The investigation therefore focuses on such things as the ability to set up a user profile and whether this process violates data protection rules.
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The Irish regulator is also investigating in a separate investigation whether Facebook is authorized to process children’s personal data and whether it has adequate protection and restrictions to ensure that children’s data is sufficiently protected on the Instagram platform.
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Irish Commissioner Graham Doyle told Reuters that his office had identified areas that could be a source of problems. Doyle also said the investigation, as well as a separate Facebook investigation, was launched in September. Neither Facebook nor Instagram have yet commented on the information about the investigation.
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New rules on personal data protection give the EU regulator the possibility of imposing a fine of up to four percent of the company’s global revenues, or 20 million euros, for their violation. Depending on which of the amounts will be higher.
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