Irish Supreme Court to hear appeal in LinkedIn challenge to €310m DPC fine

The Supreme Court of Ireland has agreed to hear a direct appeal in the legal dispute between LinkedIn and the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC). The dispute relates to a €310 million fine issued in October 2024 for targeted advertising-related violations of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The fine was issued after a DPC investigation found the Microsoft-owned social media platform contravened GDPR Articles 5(1)(a), 6, 13(1)(c) and 14(1)(c) concerning the lawfulness, fairness and transparency of its processing of personal data for the purposes of behavioural analysis and targeted advertising practices of its users.

Following an April High Court ruling on four preliminary issues, the DPC sought to appeal three points, while LinkedIn sought to appeal the fourth directly to the Supreme Court, bypassing the Court of Appeal.

In an eight-page ruling, the Supreme Court held that exceptional circumstances were present in the case, citing the substantial fine, LinkedIn's hundreds of millions of users, and the case's importance to the general public. The Court scheduled the matter for early 2027.

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