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ARTICLE · 11 JULY 2019

Sky high: Record £183m (AUD$329m) GDPR fine on the horizon for British Airways following data breach

Holding Redlich
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Australian businesses conducting activities in the EU should take note of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

AustraliaPrivacy
Lisa Fitzgerald
Lisa Fitzgerald
Emily Booth
Emily Booth
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If Australian businesses conducting activities in the EU were not already paying attention to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) introduced in Europe last May, they should be now.

This week the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), signalled its intention to issue a fine to British Airways, which would be 1.5 per cent of the airline's global turnover in 2017. Under laws introduced in May 2018, the regulators in the EU have an arsenal of enforcement options, including the ability to issue fines of up to 20 million euros or four per cent of global annual turnover (whichever is higher).

Up until now, this has been a theoretical risk. It's now looking very real.

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