After GDPR regulation coming into force on the 25th of May, the Finnish Data Protection Authority’s office was flooded with complaints about possible infringements.
This may result in sanctions worth millions in euros (read more about the fines for not complying with GDPR). Therefore, the Finnish Data Protection Authority starts a GDPR Compliance investigation of every notification received about possible infringement.
According to the public data, there are already 1300 data protection, 300 cross-border as well as 300 national infringement related complaints. Therefore, the Finish Data Protection Authority will visit hot-spots of infringements, where the search will be conducted in 1-2 days each.
Sanctions That Worth Millions – only one of the options
After the Finnish National Law regarding personal data protection coming into force, the supervisory power of the data protection authority enhances significantly. Therefore, GDPR infringement can lead to sanctions of up to 10 million euros or alternatively up to 2% of the worldwide revenue. However, it is possible that the sanction is merely a warning, or no consequences will follow.
According to the Finnish Data Protection Authority, every alleged infringement will be evaluated individually. Though, the sanction is only one of the options. For instance, companies might face restrictions or changes to make within the company. Therefore, the use of monetary sanctions will happen in accordance with European practice.
Sweden Started Investigation Already in June
The National Law regarding data protection is already in force in Sweden. As a result, it allowed starting an investigation on how companies comply with the new GDPR already back in June. An investigation report. is available and probable sanctions will be ready by the end of 2018.
A list of 66 companies under investigation was previously released by the Swedish Data Protection Authority to the Di Digital magazine. The list contains:
- 13 trade unions;
- 5 telecommunication service providers;
- 5 insurance companies;
- 3 public transport service providers;
- 3 banks;
- 2 health service providers; and
- 35 different public authorities.
In total, 362 objects from both the public and private sectors were investigated. On the 31st of October, the Swedish Data Protection Authority published an overview of the complete investigation. It revealed that approximately 16 % of the investigated companies lack GDPR compliance. As a result, out of 66 listed cases, 57 reprimands and 2 injunctions were given. The rest (7 companies) didn’t face any consequences.
Investigated companies include operators Tele2 and Telia, money exchange service Forex Bank and Resurs Bank and others.
Read more on this topic: GDPR Compliance Checklist for 2019
