Meta Group, the parent company of Facebook, received two fines totaling 390 million euros on Wednesday for violating the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Irish regulator acting on behalf of the European Union (EU) announced. AFP, News.ro reports.

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) said in a statement that Meta breached its “transparency obligations” and relied on the wrong legal basis “for processing personal data for targeted advertising”.

These sanctions came after the adoption of three binding decisions in early December by the European Data Protection Board (EDPC), the European regulatory body in this field.

One of those decisions – in relation to WhatsApp – was later reported to the DPC and is due to be the subject of a decision next week.

The Nyob Privacy Association, which is the source of the three complaints filed against the group, accuses Meta of reinterpreting consent “as a simple civil contract” that does not allow opting out of targeted advertising.

In October 2021, the Irish authorities initially proposed a draft decision to review the legal bases used by Facebook and proposed a fine of €26-36 million due to a lack of transparency.

France’s CNIL and other regulatory bodies have expressed their disagreement with the draft sanctions, which they consider too weak.

They asked the ECPD to review the dispute, and the latter won them over on the legal basis.

On Wednesday, the Nyob Association welcomed the decision, which it said would require Meta to implement a “yes/no consent option” for the use of users’ personal data, without which the company “cannot use their data for personalized advertising”.

Meta’s reaction

In a statement sent to AFP, Meta said it was “disappointed” by the rulings and said it intended to appeal “both on the merits and against the fines”.

“The debate about the legal bases of the processing of personal data has been going on for some time, and companies face a lack of certainty in regulating this issue,” the company said.

“These solutions do not prevent targeted or personalized advertising,” and “advertisers can continue to use our platforms to reach potential customers, grow their business and create new markets,” says Meta.

Irish authorities have already fined the Californian giant in September 405 million euros for violations in the processing of minors’ data, and in November a fine of 265 million dollars for insufficiently protecting the data of its users.