Ireland: Adopted EDPB binding decision (1/2021) on the dispute on the draft decision of the Irish Supervisory Authority regarding WhatsApp Ireland's obligations under the GDPR

On 28 July 2021, the dispute over a draft decision made by the Irish Data Protection Authority (DPA) regarding WhatsApp IE's transparency obligations under the GDPR for both users and non-users of the service was resolved by the European Data Protection Board (EDPB). The disagreement arose when the DPC submitted the draft decision to all concerned Supervisory Authorities (CASs) in December 2020, following an investigation into potential violations of data protection obligations by Whatsapp Ireland. As consensus could not be reached with the CASs on the objections raised, the DPC initiated the dispute resolution process (Article 65 GDPR) on 3 June 2021. In the binding decision issued by the EDPB, the Irish DPA was instructed to revise its draft decision, specifically addressing the transparency breaches, and to consider increasing the proposed fine.