#regulatory-fines

#regulatory-fines

GDPR fines pushed past the £1 billion (€1.2 billion) mark in 2025 as Europe's regulators were deluged with more than 400 data breach notifications a day, according to a new survey that suggests the post-plateau era of enforcement has well and truly arrived. The figures come from the latest GDPR Fines and Data Breach Survey published by DLA Piper, which puts total fines issued across Europe last year at roughly £1 billion (€1.2 billion), up from £996 million in 2024. While that year-on-year increase is modest, regulators have now handed down €7.1 billion (£6.2 billion) in penalties since GDPR came into force in May 2018.

Ofcom, the UK's Online Safety Act regulator, has fined online message board 4chan £20,000 ($26,680) for failing to protect children from harmful content. The fine could rise by a further £6,000 - £100 per day for a maximum 60 days - if it continues to ignore its duties to comply with the regulator's request for information regarding two separate matters.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.

A Bay Area company that supplies chemical products connected to the Chevron Richmond Refinery has been fined $160,000 for committing multiple air quality violations during a 10-year period, authorities said Wednesday. The penalty came from violations that occurred between 2013 and 2023, according to the Air District. They said the violations included the failure of the company to monitor and record pressure across its venturi scrubber, an emergency abatement device; failure to abate internal combustion engine emissions; and the late reporting of violations.

As our water pipes have been left to crumble into disrepair with vital maintenance delayed, the water companies have wasted millions on expensive legal firms tasked with downplaying the extent of the sewage scandal. My constituents will be outraged by what our committee has uncovered. That money should be spent fixing our broken water infrastructure not trying to deny the scale of the problem.