MESSAGING service WhatsApp is to appeal a £193m fine imposed by the Republic's data watchdog for breaching privacy regulations.
It is the largest fine ever from the Irish Data Protection Commission, and the second-highest under EU GDPR rules.
Owned by Facebook, WhatsApp said it disagrees with the decision and severity of the fine and plans to appeal.
The fine relates to an investigation which began in 2018, about whether WhatsApp had been transparent enough about how it handles information.
The issues involved included whether WhatsApp supplied enough information to users about how their data was processed and if its privacy policies were clear enough.
Those policies have since been updated several times.
A spokesman for WhatsApp said it is "committed to providing a secure and private service".
"We have worked to ensure the information we provide is transparent and comprehensive and will continue to do so," he said.
"We disagree with the decision today regarding the transparency we provided to people in 2018 and the penalties are entirely disproportionate."
The Irish DPC said it had submitted its decision to other national data authorities "following a lengthy and comprehensive investigation", and received objections from eight countries, including Germany, France, and Italy.
Some disagreed with the Irish regulator about which specific articles of GDPR had been broken or the way the fine had been calculated, among other issues.
The Irish DPC also formally reprimanded WhatsApp and ordered it to "bring its processing into compliance".
