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Enforcement

Regulatory actions, fines, warnings, and enforcement decisions

46 Posts
12 Topics
Feb 3 Latest

Municipality of Ede: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€25,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 25,000 on the Municipality of Ede. The controller, one of ten municipalities that were fined, processed data regarding the Islamic community in its municipality using a force field analysis, for which it employed an external processor. This processing took place at a time of heightened societal concern about Islamic extremism and terrorism. During this period, the Dutch government and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism stepped up me

Municipality of Veenendaal: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€25,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 25,000 on the Municipality of Veenendaal. The controller, one of ten municipalities that were fined, processed data regarding the Islamic community in its municipality using a force field analysis, for which it employed an external processor. This processing took place at a time of heightened societal concern about Islamic extremism and terrorism. During this period, the Dutch government and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism steppe

Municipality of Zoetermeer: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€25,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 25,000 on the Municipality of Zoetermeer. The controller, one of ten municipalities that were fined, processed data regarding the Islamic community in its municipality using a force field analysis, for which it employed an external processor. This processing took place at a time of heightened societal concern about Islamic extremism and terrorism. During this period, the Dutch government and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism steppe

Municipality of Hilversum: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€25,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 25,000 on the Municipality of Hilversum. The controller, one of ten municipalities that were fined, processed data regarding the Islamic community in its municipality using a force field analysis, for which it employed an external processor. This processing took place at a time of heightened societal concern about Islamic extremism and terrorism. During this period, the Dutch government and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism stepped

Municipality of Delft: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€25,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 25,000 on the Municipality of Delft. The controller, one of ten municipalities that were fined, processed data regarding the Islamic community in its municipality using a force field analysis, for which it employed an external processor. This processing took place at a time of heightened societal concern about Islamic extremism and terrorism. During this period, the Dutch government and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism stepped up

Municipality of Huizen: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€25,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 25,000 on the Municipality of Huizen. The controller, one of ten municipalities that were fined, processed data regarding the Islamic community in its municipality using a force field analysis, for which it employed an external processor. This processing took place at a time of heightened societal concern about Islamic extremism and terrorism. During this period, the Dutch government and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism stepped up

Municipality of Eindhoven: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€25,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 25,000 on the Municipality of Eindhoven. The controller, one of ten municipalities that were fined, processed data regarding the Islamic community in its municipality using a force field analysis, for which it employed an external processor. This processing took place at a time of heightened societal concern about Islamic extremism and terrorism. During this period, the Dutch government and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism stepped

Municipality of Haarlemmermeer: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€25,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 25,000 on the Municipality of Haarlemmermeer. The controller, one of ten municipalities that were fined, processed data regarding the Islamic community in its municipality using a force field analysis, for which it employed an external processor. This processing took place at a time of heightened societal concern about Islamic extremism and terrorism. During this period, the Dutch government and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism st

Municipality of Tilburg: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€25,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 25,000 on the Municipality of Tilburg. The controller, one of ten municipalities that were fined, processed data regarding the Islamic community in its municipality using a force field analysis, for which it employed an external processor. This processing took place at a time of heightened societal concern about Islamic extremism and terrorism. During this period, the Dutch government and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism stepped u

Municipality of Gooise Meren: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€25,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 25,000 on the Municipality of Gooise Meren. The controller, one of ten municipalities that were fined, processed data regarding the Islamic community in its municipality using a force field analysis, for which it employed an external processor. This processing took place at a time of heightened societal concern about Islamic extremism and terrorism. During this period, the Dutch government and the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism step

De Hogeschool Arnhem en Nijmegen: Onvoldoende technische en organisatorische maatregelen om de informatiebeveiliging te waarborgen.

175.000 euro boete - Nederlandse Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (AP).

De Nederlandse Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens heeft een boete van 175.000 euro opgelegd aan de Hogeschool Arnhem en Nijmegen. De verantwoordelijke partij heeft een datalek geleden als gevolg van onvoldoende technische en organisatorische maatregelen.

Experian Nederland B.V.: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€2,700,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 2,700,000 on Experian Nederland B.V. The controller, a company that determines individuals' creditworthiness and sells this information, processed personal data without a sufficient legal basis. The controller also failed to inform data subjects about the processing of their data. Following the decision, the company decided to stop its activities in the Netherlands and will delete its database by the end of the year.

Landlord: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€9,700 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 9,700 on a Landlord. The controller installed video surveillance in and around a student residence. However, the surveillance was too invasive, resulting in it not being lawful.

Real Estate Agency: Insufficient cooperation with supervisory authority

€6,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA imposed a fine of EUR 6,000 on a real estate agency. The Belgian DPA had previously issued a remedy to the controller in an earlier case due to the controller processing data without a sufficient legal basis and failing to comply with the data subject's right to erasure. The Belgian DPA determined that the controller had failed to comply with the issued remedy, resulting in the fine being issued.

Company: Non-compliance with general data processing principles

€20,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA imposed a fine of EUR 20,000 on a company. The controller is a company engaging in direct marketing activities. During those activies the company failed to comply with multiple data processing principle. In particular the company had no sufficient legal basis for the data processing, failed to inform the data subjects and failed to provide data subjects with lawfully requested informations.

Hospital: Insufficient technical and organisational measures to ensure information security

€200,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA has fined a hospital EUR 200,000. The hospital had suffered a ransomware attack through a vulnerability in the server, which paralyzed parts of the computer system and affected about 300,000 individuals. During its investigation, the DPA found that the hospital had failed to carry out a data protection impact assessment. In addition, the DPA found that it did not have an adequate information security policy in place and failed to implement appropriate technical and organizational

Netflix International B.V.: Insufficient fulfilment of information obligations

€4,750,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 4.75 million on Netflix. This fine is based on a complaint filed by the Austrian organization 'noyb'. During its investigation, the DPA found that between 2018 and 2020, Netflix did not sufficiently inform customers about the processing of their personal data. The privacy policy was partly unclear and, did not provide sufficient information on the purpose and legal basis of the data collection and use, for example. In addition, requests from data subjects

Uber Technologies Inc., Uber B.V.: Non-compliance with general data processing principles

€290,000,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 290 million on Uber for transferring personal data of European drivers to the USA without sufficient privacy safeguards. The DPA launched an investigation after 170 French drivers filed complaints with the 'Ligue des droits de l'Homme'. The DPA's investigation revealed that Uber had stored sensitive personal data—such as location information, payment details, identity documents, and health data—on US servers without adequate safeguards for over two years.

Clearview AI Inc.: Non-compliance with general data processing principles

€30,500,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has fined Clearview Al Inc. EUR 30,500,000. Clearview, a company offering facial recognition services, holds a database of over 30 billion images, including those of Dutch citizens. These images are scraped from publicly available online platforms, such as social media. Clearview uses these images to create biometric profiles, allowing individuals to be identified. During its investigation the DPA found that the personal data contained in the company's database had been processed u

A.S. Watson Health & Beauty Continental Europe B.V.: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€50,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 600,000 on A.S. Watson Health & Beauty Continental Europe B.V.. The controller had tracked visitors to their drugstore website “Kruidvat.nl” with tracking cookies without their consent. The cookie banner on the website had the boxes for consenting to the placement of tracking software pre-ticked by default. Visitors who nevertheless wanted to reject the cookies could only do so with greater difficulty. This allowed the controller to collect sensitive perso

Black Tiger Belgium: Insufficient fulfilment of information obligations

€174,640 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 174,640 on Black Tiger Belgium. An individual had filed a complaint with the DPA due to the controller's failure to properly comply with their request to exercise their right of access. During its investigation, the DPA further found that the controller had processed personal data in various databases without sufficiently informing the data subjects. The DPA also found that the data retention period of 15 years was excessively long and not necessary. Fin

International Card Services B.V.: Insufficient technical and organisational measures to ensure information security

€150,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 150,000 on International Card Services B.V. (ICS). ICS failed to carry out a data protection impact assessment before starting the digital identification of customers in the Netherlands in 2019. The identity check covered around 1.5 million people and involved sensitive personal data such as pictures of the data subjects.

Dutch Social Insurance Institution (SVB): Insufficient technical and organisational measures to ensure information security

€150,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 150,000 on the Dutch Social Insurance Institution (SVB). The controller had suffered a data breach in which a client's data had been leaked to unauthorized third parties. An unknown third party had succeeded in requesting benefit information via the controller's telephone helpdesk. In the course of its investigation, the DPA found that the controller had failed to implement sufficient technical and organizational measures to protect personal data. For exam

Company: Insufficient technical and organisational measures to ensure information security

€2,500 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 2,500 on a company. The company operates a digital management platform where suppliers and customers can communicate and upload administrative documents. An individual, who is not themselves a member of the platform, had filed a complaint with the DPA. Since the complainant's roommate is a member of the platform, the complainant asked them to upload the joint water bill, which was in the complainant's name. The platform recognized the complainant's name

Medical laboratory: Insufficient technical and organisational measures to ensure information security

€20,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA imposed a fine of EUR 20,000 on a medical laboratory. During its investigation, the DPA found that the laboratory had failed to conduct a data protection impact assessment and thus violated Art. 35 GDPR. In addition, the laboratory had violated, Art. 5 (1) f) GDPR and Art. 32 GDPR, as it was possible for physicians to view patients' personal data on the website without encryption. Finally, the DPA found that the laboratory had not published a privacy statement on its website, in

Roularta Media Group: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€50,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 50,000 on Roularta Media Group. As part of its investigation, the DPA found that the cookie management on two websites operated by Roularta did not comply with the GDPR. In order to use cookies, controllers must obtain prior consent from the user, except in cases where the cookies are strictly necessary for website operation. The DPA found that consent to the processing of personal data through cookies on websites operated by Roularta was not valid, as n

Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€10,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 10,000 on the Belgian national railroad company (Nationale Maatschappij der Belgische Spoorwegen). A Twitter user who had received an e-mail newsletter from the railroad company had filed a complaint with the DPA. According to the Twitter user, the newsletter did not include an option to unsubscribe. During its investigation, the DPA found, first, that that there was no valid legal basis for the processing of personal data through the newsletter. Contrar

Dutch Tax and Customs Administration: Non-compliance with general data processing principles

€3,700,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 3,7 million on the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration. This is the highest fine ever imposed by the Dutch DPA As part of its investigation, the DPA found a number of violations of the GDPR. The Tax and Customs Administration had kept a list for several years on which it recorded indications of fraud. The list contained information on over 270,000 individuals, including minors. The administration had processed personal data such as health, citizenship, an

Brussels Airport Charleroi: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€100,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA has fined Brussels Airport Charleroi EUR 100,000. The DPA had launched an investigation against the airport following media reports about temperature monitoring of persons at the airport. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic the airport used thermal imaging cameras to filter out people with body temperatures above 38 degrees. Those filtered out were then required to answer questions about possible coronavirus symptoms. The DPA particularly noted that the airport did not have a valid lega

Brussels Airport Zaventem: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€200,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA has fined Brussels Airport Zaventem EUR 200,000. The DPA had launched an investigation against the airport following media reports about temperature monitoring of persons at the airport. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic the airport used thermal imaging cameras to filter out people with body temperatures above 38 degrees. Those filtered out were then required to answer questions about possible coronavirus symptoms. The DPA particularly noted that the airport did not have a valid legal

Company: Insufficient fulfilment of data subjects rights

€7,500 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 7,500 on a company. A former managing director had filed a complaint against the company with the DPA. In the context of being dismissed, the former managing director deleted all data on the work laptop before handing over the technical equipment. According to the managing director, only the private data, such as the private e-mail inbox, had been deleted. However, the company stated that the managing director had deleted both private and work-related da

Dutch Foreign Ministry: Insufficient technical and organisational measures to ensure information security

€565,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 565,000 on the Dutch Foreign Ministry. As part of its investigation, the DPA found that the National Visa Information System (NVIS) suffered from significant security deficiencies. This is particularly serious as the Foreign Ministry has processed an average of 530,000 visa applications per year over the last three years and the personal data processed in the course of the applications was therefore inadequately secured. The data included sensitive informa

IAB Europe: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 250,000 on IAB Europe. The DPA had received several complaints against IAB Europe since 2019. In the context of this complaint, the compliance of the 'Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF)' with the GDPR was mainly questioned. The TCF was developed by IAB to promote compliance with the GDPR by organizations using the OpenRTB protocol. The OpenRTB protocol is a protocol for 'real-time bidding,' which is the automated online auction of user profiles for t

DPG Media Magazines B.V.: Insufficient fulfilment of data subjects rights

€525,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA has imposed a fine of EUR 525,000 on DPG Media Magazines B.V. The DPA had received several complaints regarding the way the controller handled requests from customers. Customers who wanted to know what kind of personal data the controller stored, or wanted to have their data deleted, first had to upload or send in proof of identity. The DPA determined that sending in proof of identity would not have been necessary for the purpose of processing the request. In addition, the mailing

Financial company: Insufficient technical and organisational measures to ensure information security

€100,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA (APD) has imposed a fine of EUR 100,000 on a financial company. A data subject had filed two complaints with the APD against the company. They were based on 20 queries of her personal data from the credit register of the National Bank of Belgium. The controller employs the data subject's ex-husband, who allegedly used his role to unlawfully gain access to the register in order to obtain financial information about the data subject and thus gain an advantage in their divorce proce

School: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€1,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA (APD) fined a school EUR 1,000. The controller had conducted a survey on student well-being via a smartschooling system. The DPA states that the controller did not obtain the consent of the parents of the minor students and violated the principle of data minimization. The original fine of EUR 2,000 was reduced to EUR 1,000 after the controller appealed the APD's decision.

Family Service / N.D.P.K. nv.: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€50,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA imposed a fine of EUR 50,000 on Family Service / N.D.P.K. nv. The controller is an advertising agency that, among other things, sends expectant mothers gift boxes containing various discount vouchers, product samples and information about pregnancy and birth. The box items are provided by third parties, to whom the controller subsequently transfers the recipients' contact data for marketing purposes. The consent of the recipients to this transfer and to subsequent advertising mea

BELGIUM DPA: Insufficient fulfilment of data subjects rights

€15,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA (APD) imposed a fine of EUR 15,000 on a company due to insufficient fulfilment of data subject rights. The controller is a debt collection agency which was commissioned by another company to collect debts owed to it. The data subject was issued a fine for illegal parking by the last-mentioned company. However, the data subject states that he/she did not receive the fine notice. Instead, the data subject only learned about it when he/she received an official reminder letter from t

BELGIUM DPA: Insufficient fulfilment of data subjects rights

€50,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA (APD) imposed a fine of EUR 50,000 on a company for several violations of the GDPR. The controller is a company that carries out parking ticket controls. The controller controller had issued the data subject a fine for illegal parking. However, the data subject states that he or she did not receive the fine ticket. Instead, the data subject only found out about it when he or she received an official reminder letter from a law firm commissioned with debt collection, which then dem

Locatefamily.com: Non-compliance with general data processing principles

€525,000 fine - Dutch Supervisory Authority for Data Protection (AP)

The Dutch DPA (AP) has imposed a fine of EUR 525,000 on Locatefamily.com. Locatefamily.com is a platform where people can search for the contact information of family members they have lost contact with or other people they would like to get in touch with. The data subjects complained that their contact information (name, address, phone number) was published on the website without their knowledge. The data subjects were not able to request the deletion of their data published on the site easily,

Private Individual: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€1,500 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian DPA (APD) imposed a fine against private individuals. The controllers installed video cameras on their private property, two of which were positioned in a way that they could capture images of the public space and the neighbor's private property. Also the controllers forwarded the images to a third party.

Google Belgium SA: Insufficient fulfilment of data subjects rights

€600,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian data protection authority has fined Google Belgium SA, a subsidiary of Google, 600,000 euros. The reasons for the fine were the rejection of an application by a data subject for dereferencing outdated articles that the data subject had considered to be damaging to its reputation, and lack of transparency in Google's form for dereferencing applications. The Belgian data protection authority found that articles relating to unfounded harassment complaints could have serious consequences

Operator of CCTV of a residential building: Insufficient legal basis for data processing

€5,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The operator of video cameras on a residential property had installed cameras there to monitor the shared area of two blocks of flats. The data controller argued that the owners had given their consent to this by signing the notarised purchase contracts. However, the data protection authority had denied this after checking the contracts.

Proximus SA: Insufficient involvement of data protection officer

€50,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

According to the data protection authority, the company's data protection officer was not sufficiently involved in the processing of personal data breaches and the company did not have a system in place to prevent a conflict of interest of the DPO, who also held numerous other positions within the company (head of compliance and audit department), which led the DPA to the conclusion that the company's DPO was not able to work independently.

Nursing Care Organisation: Insufficient fulfilment of data subjects rights

€2,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The company failed to act on requests from the data subject to get access to his data and to have his data erased.

Merchant: Non-compliance with general data processing principles

€10,000 fine - Belgian Data Protection Authority (APD)

The Belgian data protection authority has imposed a fine of 10,000 euros on a merchant who wanted to use an electronic identity card (eID) to create a customer card. The DPA's investigation revealed that the merchant required access to personal data located on the eID, including the photo and barcode which is linked to the data subject's identification number. In the meantime, the decision of the data protection authority has been annulled by a court: link