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European Commission Faces GDPR Fine

The European Court has ruled in favour of a German citizen in a case where the European Commission violated its privacy rules. In our country, such a case is more complicated.

The European Commission transferred the citizen’s data to the US without taking precautions. As a result, the Commission must now pay the person 400 euros.

The incident was caused by the ability to log in to a European Commission conference site using a Facebook account, Reuters reports. The German who did so says that in this way, the IP address, browser and information about the device were transferred to the US. Specifically to Amazon, which hosts the Commission site.

According to the citizen, that transfer violates the GDPR, and the European Court follows suit, albeit with a relatively small fine. The Commission told Reuters that it would study the assessment and its consequences.

Can a government itself be fined?
It is rare for a European institution to receive a privacy fine, but the fact that it concerns rules it has drawn up itself makes it all the more remarkable. It is also the Commission’s first received a GDPR conviction.

However, Data News learned after asking the Data Protection Authority that not every government service can receive a privacy fine. For example, Belgian institutions, including local and regional government services, are exempt. When implementing the legislation, each member state could choose to what extent fines are imposed on government bodies.

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