The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law is taking a financial toll on Big Tech as fines have soared nearly sevenfold in the past year.
Nearly 1.1 billion euros (about $1.2 billion) in fines have been levied for a wide range of infringements of Europe’s tough data protection laws, according to a 20-page report, “DLA Piper GDPR fines and data breach survey: January 2022.”
Luxembourg and Ireland, both having record-breaking fines imposed, replaced Italy and Germany in the top two spots as Italy fell to third place, the report stated. At 746 million euros (about $847 million) Luxembourg was No. 1 followed by Ireland at 225 million euros (about $255 million).
The global law firm gathered the data from latest annual GDPR fines and data breach report of the 27 EU member states plus the U.K., Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, according to the report. The measure was enacted in 2016 to protect date and privacy in the EU.
Since January of last year, there have been more than 130,000 personal data breaches notified to regulators, an average 356 breach notifications per day, according to the report. That’s an 8% increase over last year’s daily average of 331 notifications per day.
Ross McKean, chair of DLA Piper’s U.K. data protection and security group, told CNBC that GDPR is shining a spotlight on data protection law and enforcement.
“Prior to GDPR, if you got hit with a fine and you were one of the bigger processors, it was a rounding error, it would barely pay for the Christmas party,” he said, per the report. “Now, you’ve got fines that are close to a billion euros.”
Big Tech is not only facing challenges in the EU. The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to end Google’s alleged monopoly of the search and ad sector.
Read more: Google, Big Tech Firms Face New EU Regulations This Year
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