GS Paper 2
Syllabus: Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors
Source: IE
Direction: The article highlights the implications of a fine imposed on Meta by an Irish agency for breaching the EU’s GDPR.
Context:
- Meta has been slapped with fines totalling €390 million by the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) for breaching General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- Meta’s profit forecasts for 2023 have dropped nearly 50%, indicating that both users and advertisers are abandoning the platforms (exception – of Instagram Reels and WhatsApp).
Background:
- The company’s advertising and data handling practices have been accused of breaching the EU’s overarching privacy law – GDPR.
- The legal permission that Meta sought from users to collect their data for personalised advertising, essentially forced them to accept personalised ads, in violation of the GDPR.
- As per the GDPR, cross-border cases are handled by the data protection authority in the country where the company is based.
Significance of the ruling:
- Strengthens the GDPR’s overarching theme – the individual’s right over her data and the need for a person to give explicit consent before their data can be processed.
- The decision could imply that Meta would have to tweak its apps to ensure that they do not leverage personal data for advertising.
Impact of the ruling:
- The likely ripple effect: With a focus on privacy and requiring individuals to give explicit consent, the GDPR has substantially influenced legislation in nearly 160 countries.
- Broadening individual’s right over her data: A pair of sub-legislation of GDPR –
- The Digital Services Act (DSA) focuses on issues such as regulating hate speech, etc.
- The Digital Markets Act (DMA) defines a new category of “dominant gatekeeper” platforms and is focused on non-competitive practices and the abuse of dominance/monopoly by these players.
The possible impact of the ruling on India:
- The Government of India is currently working on a policy framework for the tech sector, which includes –
- The new Personal Data Protection bill
- A comprehensive Digital India Act that would eventually replace the existing IT Act, and
- The new Telecom Bill
- Hence, the ruling could have resonance in India too.
Insta Links:
New draft digital data protection bill: How it compares with the older version and laws elsewhere
