By Foo Yun Chee
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Meta’s WhatsApp took its fight against the European Data Protection Board to Europe’s highest court on Tuesday, saying it should be able to challenge a ruling that led to a 225 million euro ($236 million) fine by Ireland’s privacy watchdog.
The Irish data protection watchdog handed out the penalty in 2021 after complaints about WhatsApp’s use of personal data in Ireland. It was jacked up after EDPB’s intervention.
WhatsApp’s challenge was then dismissed by the Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe’s second-highest, which said the company was not directly concerned by the EDPB decision and that the Irish watchdog had some discretion on its final decision.
WhatsApp then appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), saying its case could affect all composite administrative proceedings where a European Union body has decision-making power.
“The order under appeal is flawed and unworkable. The EDPB decision has legal effects and is of direct concern to WhatsApp,” its lawyer Hans-Georg Kamann told CJEU judges.
The court will rule next year. The case is C-97/23 P WhatsApp Ireland v European Data Protection Board.
($1 = 0.9527 euros)
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Alexander Smith)
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