EU privacy body flagged for slow FB probe

SAN FRANCISCO: Silicon Valley’s main data-protection watchdog in Europe came under attack from one of the region’s leading privacy advocates for taking too long to wrap up probes into Facebook Inc. and its Instagram and WhatsApp units.

Max Schrems’ group Noyb in an open letter on Monday called on European Union authorities to “take action” against the Irish Data Protection Commission, which has yet to issue any significant fines exactly two years after strict EU rules empowered the regulator to levy hefty penalties for serious privacy violations.

The letter comes just days after the Irish authority said it’s edging closer to delivering its first major sanctions under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation after finalising a draft decision in a probe concerning Twitter and completing a further procedural step in a separate probe concerning WhatsApp.