LinkedIn Ireland receives $335M fine from Data Protection Commission

Microsoft-owned (NASDAQ:MSFT) LinkedIn received a €310M, or $335M, fine from the Irish Data Protection Commission, or DPC, related to digital advertising efforts in 2018, but LinkedIn believes they have complied with data regulations.

“This inquiry examined the lawfulness, fairness and transparency of the processing of the personal data of users of the LinkedIn platform for the purposes of behavioral analysis and targeted advertising,” the Irish DPC said. “The personal data in question encompassed data provided directly to LinkedIn by its members (first-party data) and data obtained via its third-party partners relating to its members (third-party data).”

The DPC found that LinkedIn did not properly process the data of LinkedIn users for advertising purposes in a fair and transparent manner.

“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 DPC Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle.

LinkedIn believes they have complied with the DPC’s data regulations.

“Today, the Irish Data Protection Commission reached a final decision on claims from 2018 about some of our digital advertising efforts in the EU,” said a LinkedIn spokesperson to Seeking Alpha. “While we believe we have been in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation, we are working to ensure our ad practices meet this decision by the IDPC’s deadline.”

The fine was less than Microsoft had anticipated in a 10-K disclosure, as the tech titan had expected it to total about $425M.

Microsoft shares were flat on Thursday.