The Irish watchdog Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) has opened a third privacy investigation into Apple, writes Reuters. The purpose of the investigation is to determine whether Apple complies with the relevant provisions of the European GDPR Privacy Act when a customer requests access.
The other two investigations were launched last year. It examines how the company processes personal data for targeted advertising, and whether its privacy policy for processing that data is sufficiently transparent.
If the iPhone manufacturer does not comply with the GDPR, this may result in high costs. According to the legislation, watchdogs can impose fines of up to 4% of the company’s worldwide turnover or EUR 20 million, whichever is greater.
Other investigations
The reason the Irish DPC is doing the research is because Apple has its European headquarters in the country. This means that it is the most important regulator for the company in Europe. This also applies to several other tech companies with their European headquarters in Ireland.
The DPC has therefore not only studies running to Apple. A total of twenty studies are underway into several tech companies. Facebook has the most current surveys, with no less than eight of them to the platform. There are also two studies on WhatsApp and one on Instagram, both subsidiaries of Facebook.
Twitter has three investigations in progress. Google, Microsoft subsidiary LinkedIn and the advertising company Quantcast each have one.
Apple Measures
However, Apple has not been idle before the introduction of the GDPR. Last year, it introduced four new tools to help users gain more control over their data. One of the new tools is an icon that appears when an Apple feature collects personal information. This icon only appears on apps from the iPhone manufacturer itself.
The Apple ID website also provides users with a copy of all information that the company has collected about them, as well as the opportunity to submit a request for correction. Users can also ask the company to deactivate or delete their accounts.
This news article was automatically translated from Dutch to give Techzine.eu a head start. All news articles after September 1, 2019 are written in native English and NOT translated. All our background stories are written in native English as well. For more information read our launch article.
1 hour ago
