The very lax monitoring practice of the Irish data protection authorities vis-à-vis American corporations is a thorn in the side of many EU member states. The European Data Protection Board has also urged the Irish to exercise stricter control and, in particular, demanded an increase in the fine for WhattsApp of 30-50 million euros, which the Irish authority originally intended to be far too low. The result was that a fine of 225 million was imposed.

WhattsApp is accused of insufficient transparency in data security and in particular of not having a clear separation from its sister company Facebook (Meta?) with regard to data traffic. The Irish authority is responsible because all large American companies of the new economy have their headquarters in Ireland and pay far too little tax there - also in the opinion of most member states.

The fine is not legally binding, WhattsApp has announced that it will challenge the decision in the Irish courts. We hope for an unbiased judgement.