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GDPR Compliance Failures Lead to Surge in Fines

September 16, 2024
4
 Min Read
Compliance

In recent years, the landscape of data privacy and protection has become increasingly stringent, with regulators around the world cracking down on companies that fail to comply with local and international standards. 

The latest high-profile case involves Uber, which was recently fined a staggering €290 million ($324 million) by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) for violations related to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This is a wake up call for multinational companies. 

Graph showing the rise of GDPR fines from 2018-2024

What is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a data protection law that came into effect in the EU in May 2018. Its goal is to give individuals more control over their personal data and unify data protection rules across the EU.

GDPR gives extra protection to special categories of sensitive data. Both 'controllers' (who decide how data is processed) and 'processors' (who act on their behalf) must comply. Joint controllers may share responsibility when multiple entities manage data.

Who Does the GDPR Apply To?

GDPR applies to both EU-based and non-EU organizations that handle the data of EU residents. The regulation requires organizations to get clear consent for data collection and processing, and it gives individuals rights to access, correct, and delete their data. Organizations must also ensure strong data security and report any data breaches promptly.

What Are the Penalties for Non-Compliance with GDPR?

Non-compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can result in substantial penalties.

Article 83 of the GDPR establishes the fine framework, which includes the following:

Maximum Fine: The maximum fine for GDPR non-compliance can reach up to 20 million euros, or 4% of the company’s total global turnover from the preceding fiscal year, whichever is higher.

Alternative Penalty: In certain cases, the fine may be set at 10 million euros or 2% of the annual global revenue, as outlined in Article 83(4).

Additionally, individual EU member states have the authority to impose their own penalties for breaches not specifically addressed by Article 83, as permitted by the GDPR’s flexibility clause.

So far, the maximum fine given under GDPR was to Meta in 2023, which was fined $1.3 billion for violating GDPR laws related to data transfers. We’ll delve into the details of that case shortly.

Can Individuals Be Fined for GDPR Breaches?

While fines are typically imposed on organizations, individuals can be fined under certain circumstances. For example, if a person is self-employed and processes personal data as part of their business activities, they could be held responsible for a GDPR breach. However, UK-GDPR and EU-GDPR do not apply to data processing carried out by individuals for personal or household activities. 

According to GDPR Chapter 1, Article 4, “any natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or body” can be held accountable for non-compliance. This means that GDPR regulations do not distinguish significantly between individuals and corporations when it comes to breaches.

Specific scenarios where individuals within organizations may be fined include:

  • Obstructing a GDPR compliance investigation.
  • Providing false information to the ICO or DPA.
  • Destroying or falsifying evidence or information.
  • Obstructing official warrants related to GDPR or privacy laws.
  • Unlawfully obtaining personal data without the data controller's permission.

The Top 3 GDPR Fines and Their Impact

1.  Meta - €1.2 Billion ($1.3 Billion), 2023 

In May 2023, Meta, the U.S. tech giant, was hit with a staggering $1.3 billion fine by an Irish court for violating GDPR regulations concerning data transfers between the E.U. and the U.S. This massive penalty came after the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, which previously provided legal cover for such transfers, was invalidated in 2020. The court found that the framework failed to offer sufficient protection for EU citizens against government surveillance. This fine now stands as the largest ever under GDPR, surpassing Amazon’s 2021 record.

2. Amazon - €746 million ($781 million), 2021

Which leads us to Amazon at number 2, not bad. In 2021, Amazon Europe received the second-largest GDPR fine to date from Luxembourg’s National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD). The fine was imposed after it was determined that the online retailer was storing advertisement cookies without obtaining proper consent from its users.

3. Instagram - €405 million ($427 million), 2022

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined Instagram for violating children’s privacy online in September 2022. The violations included the public exposure of kids' phone numbers and email addresses. The DPC found that Instagram’s user registration system could default child users' accounts to "public" instead of "private," contradicting GDPR’s privacy by design principles and the regulations aimed at safeguarding children's information.

Uber currently ranks at number 6 with the latest €290 million fine they received from the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) for the GDPR related violations.

Uber’s GDPR Violation

The Dutch DPA accused Uber of transferring sensitive data of European drivers to the United States without implementing appropriate safeguards. This included personal information such as account details, location data, payment information, and even sensitive documents like taxi licenses, criminal records, and medical data. The failure to protect this data adequately, especially after the invalidation of the E.U.-U.S. Privacy Shield in 2020, constituted a serious violation of GDPR.

Despite Uber's claim that its cross-border data transfer process was compliant with GDPR, the DPA's decision to impose the record fine underscores the growing importance of adhering to stringent data protection regulations. Uber has since ceased the practice, but the financial and reputational damage is already done.

The Implications for Global Companies

The growing frequency of such fines sends a clear message to global companies: compliance with data protection regulations is non-negotiable. As European regulators continue to enforce GDPR rigorously, companies that fail to implement adequate data protection measures risk facing severe financial penalties and reputational harm.

In the case of Uber, the company’s failure to use appropriate mechanisms for data transfers, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, led to significant repercussions. This situation emphasizes the importance of staying current with regulatory changes, such as the introduction of the E.U.-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, and ensuring that all data transfer practices are fully compliant.

How Sentra Helps Orgs Stay Compliant with GDPR

Sentra helps organizations maintain GDPR compliance by effectively tagging data belonging to European citizens.

When EU citizens' Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is moved or stored outside of EU data centers, Sentra will detect and alert you in near real-time. Our continuous monitoring and scanning capabilities ensure that any data violations are identified and flagged promptly.

Example of EU citizens PII stored outside of EU data centers

Unlike traditional methods where data replication can obscure visibility and lead to issues during audits, Sentra provides ongoing visibility into data storage. This proactive approach significantly reduces the risk by alerting you to potential compliance issues as they arise.

Sentra does automatic classification of localized data - specifically in this case, EU data. Below you can see an example of how we do this. 

Sentra's automatic classification of localized data

The Rise of Compliance Violations: A Wake-up Call

The increasing number of compliance violations and the related hefty fines should serve as a wake-up call for companies worldwide. As the regulatory environment becomes more complex, it is crucial for organizations to prioritize data protection and privacy. By doing so, they can avoid costly penalties and maintain the trust of their customers and stakeholders.

Solutions such as Sentra provide a cost-effective means to ensure sensitive data always has the right posture and security controls - no matter where the data travels - and can alert on exceptions that require rapid remediation. In this way, organizations can remain regulatory compliant, avoid the steep penalties for violations, and ensure the proper, secure use of data throughout their ecosystem.

To learn more about how Sentra's Data Security Platform can help you stay compliant, avoid GDPR penalties, and ensure the proper, secure use of data, request a demo today. 

Meni is an experienced product manager and the former founder of Pixibots (A mobile applications studio). In the past 15 years, he gained expertise in various industries such as: e-commerce, cloud management, dev-tools, mobile games, and more. He is passionate about delivering high quality technical products, that are intuitive and easy to use.

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Privacy regulations such as GDPR (EU), CCPA/CPRA (California), and others are not just about legal checkboxes, they’re about building trust. In today’s data-driven world, customers expect organizations to be transparent about how their personal information is collected, used, and protected. When companies take privacy seriously, they demonstrate respect for their users, which in turn fosters loyalty and long-term engagement.

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Data Discovery & Inventory
For large organizations, pinpointing where personal data resides across a diverse ecosystem of information systems, including databases, SaaS applications, data lakes, and legacy environments, is a complex challenge. The presence of fragmented IT infrastructure and third-party platforms often leads to limited visibility, which not only slows down the DSAR response process but also increases the likelihood of missing or overlooking critical personal data.

Linking Identities Across Systems
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Unstructured Data Handling
Unlike structured databases, where data is organized into labeled fields and can be efficiently queried, unstructured data (like PDFs, documents, and logs) is free-form and lacks consistent formatting. This makes it much harder to search, classify, or extract relevant personal information.

Response Timeliness
Regulatory deadlines force organizations to respond quickly, even when data must be gathered from multiple sources and reviewed by legal teams. Manual processes can lead to delays, risking non-compliance and fines.

Volume & Scalability
While most organizations can handle an occasional DSAR manually, spikes in request volume — driven by events like regulatory campaigns or publicized incidents — can overwhelm privacy and legal teams. Without scalable automation, organizations face mounting operational costs, missed deadlines, and an increased risk of inconsistent or incomplete responses.


The Role of Data Security Platforms in DSAR Automation

Sentra is a modern data security platform dedicated to helping organizations gain complete visibility and control over their sensitive data. By continuously scanning and classifying data across all environments (including cloud, SaaS, and on-premises systems) Sentra maintains an always up-to-date data map, giving organizations a clear understanding of where sensitive data resides, how it flows, and who has access to it. This data map forms the foundation for efficient DSAR automation, enabling Sentra’s DSAR module to search for user identifiers only in locations where relevant data actually exists - ensuring high accuracy, completeness, and fast response times.

Data Security Platform example of US SSN finding

Another key factor in managing DSAR requests is ensuring that sensitive customer PII doesn’t end up in unauthorized or unintended environments. When data is copied between systems or environments, it’s essential to apply tokenization or masking to prevent unintentional sprawl of PII. Sentra helps identify misplaced or duplicated sensitive data and alerts when it isn’t properly protected. This allows organizations to focus DSAR processing within authorized operational environments, significantly reducing both risk and response time.

Smart Search of Individual Data

To initiate the generation of a Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) report, users can submit one or more unique identifiers—such as email addresses, Social Security numbers, usernames, or other personal identifiers—corresponding to the individual in question. Sentra then performs a targeted scan across the organization’s data ecosystem, focusing on data stores known to contain personally identifiable information (PII). This includes production databases, data lakes, cloud storage services, file servers, and both structured and unstructured data sources.

Leveraging its advanced classification and correlation capabilities, Sentra identifies all relevant records associated with the provided identifiers. Once the scan is complete, it compiles a comprehensive DSAR report that consolidates all discovered personal data linked to the data subject that can be downloaded as a PDF for manual review or securely retrieved via Sentra’s API.

DSAR Requests

Establishing a DSAR Processing Pipeline

Large organizations that receive a high volume of DSAR (Data Subject Access Request) submissions typically implement a robust, end-to-end DSAR processing pipeline. This pipeline is often initiated through a self-service privacy portal, allowing individuals to easily submit requests for access or deletion of their personal data. Once a request is received, an automated or semi-automated workflow is triggered to handle the request efficiently and in compliance with regulatory timelines.

  1. Requester Identity Verification: Confirm the identity of the data subject to prevent unauthorized access (e.g., via email confirmation or secure login).

  2. Mapping Identifiers: Collect and map all known identifiers for the individual across systems (e.g., email, user ID, customer number).

  3. Environment-Wide Data Discovery (via Sentra): Use Sentra to search all relevant environments — cloud, SaaS, on-prem — for personal data tied to the individual. By using Sentra’s automated discovery and classification, Sentra can automatically identify where to search for.

  4. DSAR Report Generation (via Sentra): Compile a detailed report listing all personal data found and where it resides.

  5. Data Deletion & Verification: Remove or anonymize personal data as required, then rerun a search to verify deletion is complete.

  6. Final Response to Requester: Send a confirmation to the requester, outlining the actions taken and closing the request.

Sentra plays a key role in the DSAR pipeline by exposing a powerful API that enables automated, organization-wide searches for personal data. The search results can be programmatically used to trigger downstream actions like data deletion. After removal, the API can initiate a follow-up scan to verify that all data has been successfully deleted.

Benefits of DSAR Automation 

With privacy regulations constantly growing, and DSAR volumes continuing to rise, building an automated, scalable pipeline is no longer a luxury - it’s a necessity.


  • Automated and Cost-Efficient: Replaces costly, error-prone manual processes with a streamlined, automated approach.
  • High-Speed, High-Accuracy: Sentra leverages its knowledge of where PII resides to perform targeted searches across all environments and data types, delivering comprehensive reports in hours—not days.
  • Seamless Integration: A powerful API allows integration with workflow systems, enabling a fully automated, end-to-end DSAR experience for end users.

By using Sentra to intelligently locate PII across all environments, organizations can eliminate manual bottlenecks and accelerate response times. Sentra’s powerful API and deep data awareness make it possible to automate every step of the DSAR journey - from discovery to deletion - enabling privacy teams to operate at scale, reduce costs, and maintain compliance with confidence. 

Turning DSAR Compliance into a Scalable Advantage

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Modern DSPs are built for the cloud and address vast data scale with cloud-native technologies that leverage provider APIs and functions. This allows data discovery and classification to occur autonomously, within the customer cloud environment leveraging existing compute resources. Agentless approaches reduce administrative burdens as well.

  1. AI-Based Classification

AI has revolutionized data classification, providing context-aware accuracy exceeding 95%. By understanding data in its unique context, AI-driven DSP solutions ensure the right security measures are applied without overburdening teams with false positives.

  1. Anomaly Detection and Real-Time Threat Detection

Anomaly detection, powered by Data Detection and Response (DDR), identifies unusual patterns in data usage to spotlight risks such as ransomware and insider threats. Combined with real-time, data-aware detection of suspicious activities, modern DSP solutions proactively address cloud-native vulnerabilities, stopping breaches before they unfold and ensuring swift, effective action.

  1. Automatic Labeling

Manual tagging is too cumbersome and time consuming. When choosing DSP solutions, it’s critical to make sure that you choose ones that automate data tagging and labeling, seamlessly integrating with Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), and governance platforms. This reduces errors and accelerates compliance processes.

  1. Data Zones and Perimeters

As data moves across cloud environments, maintaining control is paramount. Leading DSP solutions monitor data movement, alerting teams when data crosses predefined perimeters or storage zones, ensuring compliance with internal and external policies.

  1. Automatic Remediation and Enforcement

Automation extends to remediation, with DSPs swiftly addressing data risks like excessive permissions or misconfigurations. By enforcing protection policies across cloud environments, organizations can prevent breaches before they occur.

The Business Case for DSP in 2025

Proactive Security

Cloud-native DSP represents a shift from reactive to proactive security practices. By identifying and addressing risks early, and across their entire data estate from cloud to on-premises, organizations can mitigate potential threats and strengthen their security posture.

Regulatory Compliance

As regulations such as GDPR and CCPA continue to evolve, DSPM solutions play a crucial role in simplifying compliance by automating data discovery and labeling. This automation reduces the manual effort required to meet regulatory requirements. In fact, 84% of security and IT professionals consider data protection frameworks like GDPR and CCPA to be mandatory for their industries, emphasizing the growing need for automated solutions to ensure compliance.

The Rise of Gen AI

The rise of Gen AI is expected to be a main theme in 2025. Gen AI is a driver for data proliferation in the cloud and for a transition between legacy data technologies and modern ones that require an updated data security program.

Operational Efficiency

By automating repetitive tasks, DSPM significantly reduces the workload for security teams. This efficiency allows teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than firefighting. According to a 2024 survey, organizations using DSPM reported a 40% reduction in time spent on manual data management tasks, demonstrating its impact on operational productivity.

Future-Proofing Your Organization with Cloud-Native DSP

To thrive in the evolving security landscape, organizations must adopt forward-looking strategies. Cloud-native DSP tools integrate seamlessly with broader security frameworks, ensuring resilience and adaptability. As technology advances, features like predictive analytics and deeper AI integration will further enhance capabilities.

Conclusion

Data security challenges are only becoming more complex, but new Data Security Platforms (DSPs) provide the tools to meet them head-on. Now is the time for organizations to take a hard look at their security posture and consider how DSPs can help them stay protected, compliant, and trusted. DSPs are quickly becoming essential to business operations, influencing strategic decisions and enabling faster, more secure innovation.

Ready to see it in action?

Request a demo to discover how a modern DSP can strengthen your security and support your goals.

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