GDPR, the General Data Protection Regulation, is a regulation in the EU that controls how all personal data on EU citizens is collected and processed. The legislation covers various privacy aspects, from cookies to monitoring employees in the workplace.
Worth noting that if a company outside of the EU gathers data from users inside the EU, it must adhere to the GDPR. Those who fail to comply with the GDPR requirements receive hefty fines.
An analysis by Atlas VPN reveals that GDPR fines hit a total of €97.29 million in the first half of 2022, an increase of 92% over H1 2021.
“The data for the analysis is extracted from Enforcementtracker – they say from Atlas VPN – and note that not all penalties are made public. The chart shows monthly GDPR fines for H1 2021 and H1 2022”.
Companies and individuals were charged a total of €50.6 million in GDPR penalties in H1 2021. On the other hand, legal cases slightly decreased from 215 in 2021 to 205 in 2022.
In other words, even though the number of GDPR violations slightly decreased in 2022, the severity of those violations was considerably worse.
The most noticeable difference between 2021 and 2022 can be seen in February, where the total amount penalized differs by nearly €28 million.
On the other hand, there is a distinctive trend throughout both years, around 70% of fines happen throughout the first quarter.
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“The GDPR was necessary because the old laws were written before the emergence of new technologies, like smartphones and tablets, which meant that users were not protected against enterprises abusing their personal information. Luckily, the GDPR gave individuals more clarity on how and why businesses use their data. In addition, the GDPR also considerably limited the data businesses can collect, allowing individuals to browse the web and use services with much more privacy”, they end.
