{"id":3301,"date":"2025-10-20T22:57:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/2025\/10\/20\/experian-fined-e2-7m-for-gdpr-breach-in-netherlands\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T22:57:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T22:57:36","slug":"experian-fined-e2-7m-for-gdpr-breach-in-netherlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/2025\/10\/20\/experian-fined-e2-7m-for-gdpr-breach-in-netherlands\/","title":{"rendered":"Experian Fined \u20ac2.7m For GDPR Breach in Netherlands"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Experian Netherlands has been fined \u20ac2.7m by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).<\/p>\n

The regulator found that the credit reporting and analytics company collected and used personal data from public and private sources without properly informing individuals or obtaining their consent.<\/p>\n

The AP launched its investigation after receiving complaints from consumers who said they faced unusually high deposits or were denied installment plans by service providers.<\/p>\n

The agency determined that Experian\u2019s credit scores, used by telecom companies, energy suppliers and online retailers, had played a role in those decisions.<\/p>\n

According to the AP, Experian obtained data from multiple sources, including the Chamber of Commerce trade register and telecom and energy firms that sold customer information.<\/p>\n

This data was compiled into an extensive database containing details about millions of Dutch residents.<\/p>\n

The regulator concluded that Experian could not justify the scope of the information collected or the necessity of using it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause people weren\u2019t aware of the credit check, they couldn\u2019t verify whether the information used was accurate,\u201d\u00a0said Aleid Wolfsen, chair of the AP.<\/p>\n

Read more on Europe\u2019s evolving data privacy regulations: Data Privacy Week: How to Take Control of Your Digital Life<\/em><\/p>\n

Experian\u2019s creditworthiness reports included information such as payment behavior, outstanding debts and bankruptcies. These reports were used by clients to determine contract terms or deposit amounts. Individuals with lower scores often faced stricter conditions or additional costs.<\/p>\n

Ilia Kolochenko, CEO at ImmuniWeb and a Fellow at the British Computer Society (BCS), said the number of affected people could be significant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the total number of affected EU residents, whose personal data was processed by Experian, remains unknown in this specific incident, we are likely talking about many millions,\u201d\u00a0he said.<\/p>\n

Kolochenko noted that in the UK, Experian \u201ccollected information about as many as 51 million British residents,\u201d\u00a0suggesting that a comparable scale in the EU \u201cis easy to estimate.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that \u201cthe personal data in question is highly sensitive, even if not expressly labeled as such by the blank ink of GDPR,\u201d\u00a0and that its misuse could \u201ccause long-lasting and material damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Kolochenko, \u201cthe Dutch DPA\u2019s fine seems to be surprisingly mild and lenient,\u201d\u00a0and further legal action is likely, including \u201cprivate lawsuits for both material and non-material damages.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experian acknowledged the violations and said it would not appeal the fine. The company has stopped operating in the Netherlands and plans to delete its entire database of personal information by the end of the year.<\/p>\n

The case adds to the ongoing scrutiny of major credit agencies in Europe, following enforcement actions by UK regulators concerning how consumer data is collected and used for marketing and risk assessment purposes.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Image\u00a0credit: JHVEPhoto \/ Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Experian Netherlands has been fined \u20ac2.7m by the Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The regulator found that the credit reporting and analytics company collected and used personal data from public and private sources without properly informing individuals or obtaining their consent. The AP launched its investigation after<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02.jpg",300,300,false],"thumbnail":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02.jpg",300,300,false],"medium_large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02.jpg",300,300,false],"large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02.jpg",300,300,false],"1536x1536":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02.jpg",300,300,false],"2048x2048":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02.jpg",300,300,false],"morenews-featured":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02.jpg",300,300,false],"morenews-large":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02.jpg",300,300,false],"morenews-medium":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02.jpg",300,300,false],"crawlomatic_preview_image":["http:\/\/ft365.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/3301-5e617df2-4c63-43d0-b879-8509c320fe02-146x146.jpg",146,146,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"henry","author_link":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/author\/henry\/"},"category_info":"Uncategorized<\/a>","tag_info":"Uncategorized","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ft365.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}