EU data regulator says GDPR fines coming by the end of the year: Reuters

The EU’s privacy watchdog is predicting that the first enforcement actions under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will be announced in the coming months.

Giovanni Buttarelli, the European Data Protection Supervisor, told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that regulators have received a flood of complaints about privacy violations since the GDPR went into effect on May 25.

“I expect first GDPR fines for some cases by the end of the year. Not necessarily fines but also decisions to admonish the controllers, to impose a preliminary ban, a temporary ban or to give them an ultimatum,” Buttarelli told Reuters.

{mosads}The GDPR includes sweeping privacy restrictions requiring websites to give users more control over their data and to offer more transparency about their practices.

Violations can carry hefty fines of up to 4 percent of a company’s global turnover or about $23 million, whichever is higher. Regulators may also temporarily ban companies over violations.

“The fine is relevant for the company and important for the public opinion, for consumer trust. But from an administrative viewpoint, this is just one element of the global enforcement,” Buttarelli said, though he declined to give any hints about which companies were going to see penalties.