In a first, EU Court fines EU for breaching own data protection law

BRUSSELS - In a first, the EU General Court ruled on Jan 8 that the European Commission must pay damages to a German citizen for failing to comply with its own data protection regulations.

The court determined that the Commission transferred the citizen’s personal data to the United States without proper safeguards and ordered it to pay him €400 (S$564) in damages.

The court, which hears actions taken against EU institutions, found that this transfer of the user’s IP address to Meta Platforms in the US violated EU data protection rules.

Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation is widely regarded as one of the most comprehensive and stringent data privacy laws in the world. Major companies such as Klarna, Meta, LinkedIn and others have faced significant fines from the EU for non-compliance. REUTERS

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