We are facing an era in which large companies can be sued for any mistake they make towards the consumer, and as a result many of them once released millions of dollars to pay an entire state and have this distributed among consumers. Thus we have a new case with the most popular streaming company, Netflix, who missed a certain detail, so they had to assume the consequences of that.
The company has been fined $4.98 million by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) due to violations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the Netherlands. Between 2018 and 2020, the streaming platform did not clearly inform its users how it handled their personal data, as determined by an investigation launched in 2019.
According to the DPA, it did not adequately specify in its privacy statement what it did with its users’ information and did not provide sufficient answers to those who asked about the protected data. This constitutes a direct violation of the GDPR, which requires companies to be clear, concise and accessible when reporting on data processing.
Netflix reacted to the ruling through a statement sent to the media, in which a spokesperson assured that the company has worked to improve its transparency: “Since this investigation began more than five years ago, we have cooperated with the Dutch Protection Authority and we have proactively evolved our privacy information to provide even more clarity to our members. “We have opposed this decision.”
Despite updating its privacy policies, the improvements came too late to avoid the penalty. According to the DPA, this lack of transparency not only violated European regulations, but also affected user trust, highlighting the importance of digital platforms strictly complying with privacy laws in an increasingly demanding global environment.
However, this lesson was not in vain, since now the rules for the use of their data are always included in the contracts shown to clients.
Way: EC
