The Irish Data Protection Commission’s (DPC’s) imposition of a €310 million fine on LinkedIn Ireland is so severe that it constitutes a sanction that is penal in nature, the High Court has heard.
The Microsoft-owned company has issued judicial review proceedings and an appeal over the DPC’s recent decision to impose the penalty and to order it to bring its data processing into line with European law.
LinkedIn alleges the DPC, in inflicting such a severe fine and other reprimand, was not exercising limited functions and powers of a judicial nature within the meaning of the Constitution.
The firm claims various sections of the 2018 Data Protection Act related to the commission’s powers are contrary to the Constitution, the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the State’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
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The judicial review case came before the High Court on Monday, when Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty gave it permission to continue with its claim.
Eoin McCullough SC, for LinkedIn Ireland, said the judicial review should run alongside his client’s linked statutory appeal. Both have been adjourned until early next year.
LinkedIn is asking the High Court to quash the DPC’s decision of last October, which came on foot of a 2018 complaint originally made to the French data watchdog by a French non-profit organisation called La Quadrature du Net.
The DPC is the lead European supervisory authority for LinkedIn, which has its EU headquarters in Dublin.
In a statement at the time of its decision, the DPC said LinkedIn had obtained the consent of its users for their personal data to be sent to third parties for generating targeted advertising. However, it found the consent was not “freely given, sufficiently informed or specific, or unambiguous”, as is required under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
LinkedIn released a statement in response, saying it believes it has been in compliance with the GDPR but that it is working to ensure its advertising practices meet the decision on time.
In its High Court claim, LinkedIn Ireland says the DPC’s preliminary draft inquiry decision proposed imposing administrative fines of between €430 million and €490 million. The proposed fines were reduced following further submissions, the company says.
LinkedIn claims that the eventual imposition of a €310 million administrative fine is a sanction that is “criminal or penal in nature” due to its magnitude. The company claims the severity entitled it to a fair and public hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal and to the presumption of innocence, as provided for in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The DPC is not an independent and impartial tribunal within the meaning of the charter, says LinkedIn.
The company further makes complaints about the process of appealing a DPC decision.
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