In recent years, several companies have faced financial fines due to data breaches that compromised their customers' personal information.
Meta, the owner of Facebook, has been fined €1.2bn by Ireland's Data Protection Commission for mishandling user information. This is the largest penalty ever imposed for violating EU data protection regulations. As a result, Meta has also been instructed to suspend the transfer of user data from the EU to the US. The fine is equivalent to $1.3bn and is a record for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Another example is Capio St. Göran, a hospital whose information system was not adequately secured, allowing users full access to all patient data, including sensitive information. The hospital was fined for ignoring the principle of minimum access.
Finally, Mariotte also faced a significant financial penalty of €20.4 million due to a data breach that affected 339 million customers, 31 million of whom were EU residents. The lack of security measures in place allowed hackers to steal their personal information.