Neowin News Feed for: Ireland

TikTok hit with 530 million euro fine by Irish regulator

Paul Hill — Fri, 02 May 2025 13:00:01 +0000

TikTok has been fined 530 million euros by the Irish Data Protection Commission for sending European users' data to China. Read more...

Apple starts selling refurbished M4 MacBook Pro and Mac mini models

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Thu, 13 Feb 2025 07:48:03 +0000

Refurbished M4 MacBook Pro and Mac mini models are available on Apple's official online store in the US, the UK, Canada, and some European markets. Read more...

Irish Data Protection Commission fines Meta over $264 million for 2018 Facebook data breach

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Tue, 17 Dec 2024 15:02:02 +0000

Ireland has fined Meta over $264 million for a 2018 data breach where hackers gained access to users' profiles and personal information due to lack of security. Read more...

Spotify expands AI playlist generation feature to more countries including the US

Sagar Naresh Bhavsar — Tue, 24 Sep 2024 15:46:01 +0000

The Spotify AI playlist generation feature is now available in more countries including the US for beta users. Read more...

TikTok issued a $368 million fine for the way it handles data of young users

Steve Bennett — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 12:56:01 +0000

Ireland's Data Protection Commission has today published its final decision on its inquiry into TikTok on how it handles the data of young users and has issued a fine of €345 million ($368m). Read more...

Instagram Threads not coming to the EU on Thursday, says Irish regulator

Paul Hill — Tue, 04 Jul 2023 22:38:01 +0000

Meta is not planning to launch Threads in the European Union on Thursday, according to Ireland's Data Protection Commission. Data sharing between Threads and Instagram is said to be the reason why. Read more...

Microsoft says it may pay a $425 million fine over alleged Linkedin privacy violations

John Callaham — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 14:24:01 +0000

Microsoft said the Irish Data Protection Commission could leverage the fine because the regulator believes the company's Linkedin service violated GDPR privacy laws with targeted advertising. Read more...

Ireland data regulator: We should not blindly ban AI-powered chatbots

Usama Jawad — Fri, 21 Apr 2023 07:20:01 +0000

Although some European countries are rushing to ban ChatGPT and related technologies, Ireland is taking a more measured approach where it wants to fully understand the benefits and risks of AI. Read more...

Meta's WhatsApp slapped with a €5.5 million fine for GDPR violations

Paul Hill — Thu, 19 Jan 2023 16:24:01 +0000

Meta has been hit with a €5.5 million fine for violating GDPR rules with its WhatsApp messenger. A complainant said users were forced to agree to data processing to use WhatsApp and this broke rules. Read more...

Meta fined €390 million by Irish Data Protection Commission for GDPR violations

Paul Hill — Thu, 05 Jan 2023 04:10:02 +0000

Meta has said it will appeal against two fines from the Irish DPC which total €390 million. It was fined because of GDPR violations which were raised by two complainants in May 2018. Read more...

Meta hit with large fine by Irish data privacy regulator

Hemant Saxena — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 17:20:01 +0000

Facebook's parent company Meta has been hit by a fine of €265 million from the Data Protection Commission (Ireland) for violating people's privacy. There are still 13 outstanding inquiries pending. Read more...

Apple's Emergency SOS via Satellite is now available in the U.S. and Canada

Paul Hill — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:30:01 +0000

Apple's iPhone 14 line-up can now use Emergency SOS via Satellite in the U.S. and Canada. The company said that it will launch the feature in France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK next month. Read more...

Ireland's conservative leader says Twitter staff cuts are being handled unacceptably

Paul Hill — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 19:38:01 +0000

Ireland's Taoiseach has raised concerns about the way Twitter is firing its employees. It comes as the social media firm, now owned by Elon Musk, decided to cut about 50% of its workforce. Read more...

Instagram fined €405 million for sharing children's data

Paul Hill — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 19:06:01 +0000

Ireland's Data Protection Commission has hit Meta's Instagram with a €405 million fine for exposing e-mail addresses and phone numbers of under-18s. It's believed to have affected millions of kids. Read more...

Xbox Game Pass Family & Friends is now official

Karthik Mudaliar — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 08:42:01 +0000

Microsoft has finally made the Xbox Game Pass Family & Friends official. The subscription is currently being tested in two countries - Ireland and Colombia. Xbox says global rollout will follow soon. Read more...

Xbox Game Pass family plan testing kicks off, offers full benefits to four more accounts

Pulasthi Ariyasinghe — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 19:28:01 +0000

Microsoft has begun Insider Preview sessions of its upcoming family plan of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The new tier lets subscribers invite four more people into the membership with full benefits. Read more...

Reuters: Big tech will still be able to bypass new global tax law

Paul Hill — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 07:16:01 +0000

An investigation by Reuters has found that companies could continue to reduce their tax burdens even after a rule from the OECD designed to stop the use of such schemes comes into effect. Read more...

Ireland fines WhatsApp €225 million over violations of GDPR

Paul Hill — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 14:10:01 +0000

Ireland's Data Protection Commission has issued a €225 million fine to WhatsApp for violating GDPR rules. The DPC also said that WhatsApp will have to change its processes to align with GDPR. Read more...

Samsung Boost debuts to let Galaxy S21 users experience paid partner services for free [Update]

Jay Bonggolto — Wed, 19 May 2021 09:16:02 +0000

Samsung is now giving Galaxy S21 owners free access to a number of paid partner services that will otherwise cost them more than £250 through Samsung Boost. It's available in the UK and Ireland. Read more...

Ireland stands strong, refuses to pay ransom in attack on its national health service

Subir Kathuria — Sat, 15 May 2021 11:18:01 +0000

Ireland suffered a crippling ransomware attack on its health care systems, which lead to the shutting down of all its IT systems including COVID-19 testing and other patient services. Read more...

Facebook data breach being reviewed by Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC)

Paul Hill — Mon, 05 Apr 2021 15:10:01 +0000

Ireland's Data Protection Commission has said it will work with Facebook to ensure that data released online is from a breach which Facebook said happened in 2019 or whether it's more recent. Read more...

Samsung to deliver phones using drones in Ireland

Paul Hill — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 20:46:01 +0000

Samsung and Manna have formed a partnership in Ireland that will see customers in Oranmore receive their orders via drone. They hope to expand the service to all of Ireland in the future. Read more...

Sky re-brands NOW TV and introduces NOW Membership

Paul Hill — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 15:32:01 +0000

Sky has re-branded its NOW TV service and is simply now known as NOW. It also changed the name of Passes to Membership. The new brand will arrive in the UK first then Italy, Germany and Ireland. Read more...

Twitter slapped with €450,000 fine over a data breach in Ireland

Jay Bonggolto — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 11:58:02 +0000

Twitter has been fined €450,000 in Ireland for failing to notify privacy regulators of a data breach in 2019 and for lack of proper documentation as required by the European Union's GDPR. Read more...

Ireland's DPC is investigating Instagram's handling of children's data

Usman Khan Lodhi — Mon, 19 Oct 2020 06:08:01 +0000

Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) is investigating Instagram over the handling of children's data. If the app is found to have broken privacy laws, the regulator could issue a heavy fine. Read more...

EU to appeal court ruling over Apple's tax arrangements

Paul Hill — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 12:16:01 +0000

The European Union is set to appeal the General Court's decision from July which said Apple had not broken any laws with its tax arrangement with Ireland. The EU says the firm has underpaid its tax. Read more...

EU court says Apple doesn't need to pay a backlog of tax

Paul Hill — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 18:24:01 +0000

The EU's second-highest court has sided with Apple and Ireland in the latest episode of an on-going legal battle between the two and the European Commission. The Commission has 14 days to appeal. Read more...

Facebook's Valentine's Day plans wrecked by Irish Data Protection Commission

Paul Hill — Thu, 13 Feb 2020 14:44:01 +0000

Facebook Dating launch in Europe has been hampered by the Irish Data Protection Commission. It was due to arrive today in time for Valentine's Day but now Facebook is delaying the launch. Read more...

Google set to spend €3 billion on European data centres

Paul Hill — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 17:16:01 +0000

Google has announced that it is planning to spend €3 billion in Europe over the next two years to bolster the data centres that it operates. The investments will help create more jobs. Read more...

Apple fights EU tax order saying Irish branches are not responsible for €13 billion tax

Paul Hill — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 11:58:01 +0000

Apple has had its hearing the the EU's General Court today. It has claimed that the EU's tax order of €13 billion over its dealings in Ireland are out of proportion and does not reflect reality. Read more...

Apple set to launch legal challenge against €13 billion tax order from EU

Paul Hill — Mon, 16 Sep 2019 14:18:01 +0000

Apple is set to challenge the European Commission in the EU's second-highest court on Tuesday after it was ordered by the EU executive to pay a massive €13 billion ($14.4 billion) in back taxes. Read more...

Amazon announces two new renewable energy projects in the U.S. and EU

Namerah Saud Fatmi — Fri, 02 Aug 2019 06:42:01 +0000

Today Amazon announced two new renewable energy projects in Ireland and the U.S. One is set to be an Amazon Solar Farm and the other an Amazon Wind Farm. Both will supply energy to AWS data centres. Read more...

Apple Music launching on Amazon Echo and Fire TV in the U.K. and Ireland

Jay Bonggolto — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 19:54:01 +0000

After its limited availability on Amazon devices in the U.S., Apple Music is finally rolling out to the Echo speakers and Fire TV devices in the U.K. and Ireland over the next few weeks. Read more...

Sony offers freebie for those buying Xperia 10 or Xperia 10 Plus from Sony eStore

Paul Hill — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 17:04:01 +0000

Sony has said that those buying the new Xperia 10 or Xperia 10 Plus from the Sony eStore will get a free case. The offer is available for those in the UK, France, Ireland, Germany, Italy, and Spain. Read more...

Facebook quadruples size of its international HQ in Dublin

Paul Hill — Thu, 08 Nov 2018 14:06:01 +0000

Facebook has leased out more office space from Allied Irish Banks in order to expand its international operations. The firm can now grow its 4,000-person-strong workforce to around 9,000. Read more...

French President Macron not giving up on tech tax despite pressure

Paul Hill — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 16:16:01 +0000

Emmanuel Macron is hopeful that he can get the Germans to side with proposals to levy big tech firms with a digital sales tax of 3%. Yesterday, Ireland, Denmark, and Sweden put brakes on the plans. Read more...

Coinbase prepares for Brexit with establishment of new office in Dublin

Boyd Chan — Tue, 16 Oct 2018 09:46:01 +0000

Seeking to maintain easy access to the resulting 27-member bloc of countries in the EU, Coinbase has announced the opening of a new office in Ireland as its contingency plan for the looming Brexit. Read more...

Apple will repay taxes to the tune of €13 billion, pending term agreement

Timi Cantisano — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 07:16:01 +0000

After handing down its findings a little over a year ago, the European Commission deemed that Apple's arrangement with Ireland required it to repay taxes. Apple has now agreed to pay back €13 billion. Read more...

Paradise Papers reveal how Apple avoids paying billions in taxes

Dreyer Smit — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 08:24:01 +0000

The recent Paradise Papers leak has revealed some interesting details about the dealings by corporations and diplomats alike, with Apple's murky tax practices coming to light as well. Read more...

Microsoft signs 15-year deal with GE on a new wind project in Ireland

Hamza Jawad — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 18:46:01 +0000

Microsoft has signed a 15-year agreement with GE to purchase all of the wind energy from its new wind farm in Ireland. The deal will better enable clean power sources to be added to the Irish grid. Read more...