Ireland’s An Coimisiún um Chosaint Sonraí (Data Protection Commission, or DPC) is one of Europe’s leading Data Protection Authorities. During 2024 it issued €652 million in administrative fines – more than half of the EU total(1) (although most decisions are under appeal). The DPC is also a key player in the European Data Protection Board, contributing to regulatory harmonisation across the block. It has been the lead supervisory authority (LSA) for 87% of the 1,853 cross border data complaints since the implementation of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).(2)

“It is one of the most consequential supervisory authorities in the European Union,” Douglas McMahon, a partner at McCann FitzGerald in Ireland said at PL&B’s 38th International Conference in July. In the past 12 months the DPC has imposed fines totalling over €1.1 billion on Meta, TikTok and LinkedIn (see table) – all of which can be described as “platforms”.