More than €1bn in fines issued to tech giants by EU data regulators last year

Irish DPC Deputy Commissioner said a record fine against WhatsApp in 2021 was just the beginning and that many other investigations would come to fruition in 2022

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission issued a record €225m fine against WhatsApp in 2021. Picture: Getty

European data regulators issued almost €1.1 billion in GDPR fines in the past 12 months, a seven-fold year-on-year increase, according to new survey data published by DLA Piper law firm.

Luxembourg, Ireland and France topped the table of the highest individual fines issued, levying charges of €746m, €225m and €50m respectively against tech behemoths such as Amazon, Meta and Google.

There was an 8 per cent growth year-on-year for breach notifications with more than 130,000 ...