HomeTechnologyLinkedin receives a heavy fine for its questioned management of targeted advertising

Linkedin receives a heavy fine for its questioned management of targeted advertising

The professional connection platform owned by Microsoft did not comply with regulations on personal data, the European Union judges.

The professional social network Linkedin, owned by the American giant Microsoft, was fined on Thursday by the EU with 310 million euros for violating the European Data Regulation (GDPR) on targeted advertising and the obligation to comply with it.

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), acting on behalf of the European Union following a complaint lodged in 2018 by the French association Quadrature du Net, found in particular that “the consent obtained by Linkedin” from its users for the use of its data “were not freely provided, nor sufficiently clarified, nor specific, nor unambiguous.”

Beyond the fine, the first in the EU for Linkedin, the DPC orders the social network “to adjust its (data) processing” to the GDPR, it continues in a statement. Their full decision will be published later.

Five complaints filed in 2018

Behavioral analysis and targeted advertising involve the use of information provided, inferred or observed about an individual to serve personalized advertisements.

In 2018, the Internet user defense association Quadrature du Net filed five collective complaints against Linkedin (Microsoft), but also against Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, accusing them of illegally exploiting the personal data of their users.

The complaints, which included the names of nearly 12,000 people, were first presented at the headquarters of the CNIL (National Commission for Information Technologies and Freedom) in Paris.

The file addressed to Linkedin was transmitted to its Irish counterpart, competent to act on behalf of the EU because Microsoft’s European headquarters is located in Ireland, like that of many Silicon Valley giants, such as Apple, TikTok, Meta or Google.

Quadrature du Net, a French association that leads the fight against digital surveillance, whether by technology giants or States, considered that the companies subject to their complaints did not respect the rules in their way of obtaining the consent of Internet users.

He pointed in particular to pre-ticked boxes, or clauses stipulating that continued use of the service constitutes acceptance, and called for “a ban on behavioral analysis and the processing of targeted advertising,” as well as an administrative fine “at the most possible”.

“The processing of personal data without an adequate legal basis constitutes a clear and serious violation of the fundamental right” from which users benefit, insisted Graham Doyle, head of communications for the Irish regulator.

Author: ST with AFP
Source: BFM TV

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