LONDON (AP) 鈥 European Union regulators slapped LinkedIn on Thursday with a 310 million euro ($335 million) fine for violations of the bloc's stringent data privacy rules.
Ireland's Data Protection Commission reprimanded the Microsoft-owned professional social networking site over concerns about the 鈥渓awfulness, fairness and transparency鈥 of its personal data processing for advertising purposes.
The Dublin-based watchdog is LinkedIn's lead privacy regulator in the 27-nation EU because that's where the company's European headquarters is based.
The watchdog said it carried out an investigation that found LinkedIn did not have a lawful basis to gather data so it could target users with online ads, which is a breach of the privacy rules known as General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. It ordered LinkedIn to comply with the rules.
Processing personal data 鈥渨ithout an appropriate legal basis is a clear and serious violation鈥 of the right to data protection in the EU, Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle said in a statement.
LinkedIn said it that while it believes it has been 鈥渋n compliance鈥 with the rules, it's working to ensure its 鈥渁d practices鈥 meet the requirements.
