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Ireland is failing to apply EU privacy laws to US Big Tech companies, while 98% of 164 major complaints about privacy violence have not been resolved by regulators.
Google, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Twitter all have their European headquarters in Dublin, making Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner a leading EU regulator.
But the Irish DPC has been repeatedly criticized, both by secret agents and by some EU regulators, for failing to take action.
A study by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties found that most cases have not been resolved, and that Spain, which has a smaller budget than Ireland for data protection, makes up to ten times as many decisions.
Johnny Ryan, a senior member of the ICCL, said Ireland was “the most oppressive” in the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation.
“The GDPR’s crackdown on Big Tech will fail due to Ireland’s failure to pass judgment on cross-border crimes,” he added, adding that the EU as a whole must wait for elections in Ireland before taking action against corporations.
The Irish authorities, led by Helen Dixon, did not respond to a request for comment.
“The whole relationship depends on a few keys [data protection agencies] litigation cases, and in the meantime this is happening, ” He said Estelle Massé, senior information researcher at Access Now.
Ireland’s police presence in Big Tech has been criticized by several other European countries, including France, Spain and Italy.
In July, the Irish parliament published a reports calling for a reform of the Irish DPC, and urging them to start pressuring the GDPR. It also stated that it “fears that the human rights of its citizens are at stake.”
In March, a temporary disagreement over the Irish Tech Irish issue explosion publicly after the German authorities invaded the Irish people.
Ulrich Kelber, Germany’s chief data protection officer, wrote to members of the European Parliament to complain that Germany alone “has sent more than 50 WhatsApp complaints” to Irish officials, “no one has been arrested so far”.
He also criticized “the smallest cases in Ireland, which fall behind the cases compared to the progress of the EU and German officials”. He added that by the end of last year, Ireland had led 196 cases, but only four, with Germany closing 52 out of 176 cases.
EU officials have said Brussels has little that would make Dublin take action. The EU’s privacy policy gives the European Data Protection Board the power to take action in monitoring member states’ member states, but its powers are limited and will not force regulators such as the Irish DPC to carry out their duties.
According to the law, Dublin has the power to compel its data protection agency to exercise its powers, officials said. However, the EU could say that it would file charges in a country that does not provide the necessary privacy protections.
Additional reports by Jude Webber