all-in-one privacy solution":["Proton Unlimited is een all-in-one privacy-oplossing"],"Black Friday":["Black Friday"],"No ads. Privacy by default.":["Geen advertenties. Standaard privacy."],"People before profits":["Mensen vóór winst"],"Security through transparency":["Veiligheid door openheid"],"The best Proton Mail ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } deals":["De beste ${ BLACK_FRIDAY }-deals voor Proton Mail"],"The world’s only community- supported email service":["'s Werelds enige door de community ondersteunde e-mailservice"]},"specialoffer:limited":{"${ hours } hour":["${ hours } uur","${ hours } uur"],"${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } and ${ secondsLeft } left":["Nog ${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } en ${ secondsLeft } resterend"],"${ minutes } minute":["${ minutes } minuut","${ minutes } minuten"],"${ seconds } second":["${ seconds } seconde","${ seconds } seconden"],"Limited time offer":["Aanbieding beperkt geldig"]},"specialoffer:listitem":{"Create multiple addresses":["Maak meerdere e-mailadressen aan"],"Hide-my-email aliases":["Hide-my-email-aliassen"],"Quickly unsubscribe from newsletters":["Meld u eenvoudig af voor nieuwsbrieven"],"Use your own domain name":["Gebruik uw eigen domeinnaam"]},"specialoffer:logos":{"As featured in":["Zoals te lezen in"]},"specialoffer:metadescription":{"Get an encrypted email that protects your privacy":["Kies voor beveiligde e-mail die uw privacy beschermt"]},"specialoffer:metatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off":["Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Tot 40% korting"]},"specialoffer:newmetadescription":{"Get up to 40% off Proton Mail subscriptions this Black Friday. Find great deals on our secure end-to-end encrypted email plans.":["Profiteer tijdens Black Friday van wel 40% korting op Proton Mail-abonnementen. Bekijk geweldige aanbiedingen voor onze veilige, end-to-end versleutelde e-mailabonnementen."]},"specialoffer:newmetatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday sale | Up to 40% off secure email":["Proton Mail Black Friday Sale | Tot 40% korting op veilige e-mail"]},"specialoffer:note":{"* Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["*U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor het eerste jaar"],"*Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["*U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor de eerste 2 jaar"],"30-day money-back guarantee":["30 dagen niet-goed-geld-terug-garantie"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor de eerste 2 jaar"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor het eerste jaar"],"You save ${ SAVE_SUM }":["U bespaart ${ SAVE_SUM }"]},"specialoffer:off":{"${ DISCOUNT } off":["−${ DISCOUNT }"],"${ PERCENT_OFF } off":["−${ PERCENT_OFF }"]},"specialoffer:testimonial":{"I love my ProtonMail":["Ik ben fan van ProtonMail"],"My favorite email service":["Mijn favoriete e-mailservice"],"Thanks Proton for keeping us all safe in the complicated internet universe.":["Proton houdt ons allemaal veilig in het complexe internetuniversum."],"You get what you pay for. In the case of big tech, if you pay nothing, you get used. I quit using Gmail and switched to @ProtonMail":["Je krijgt waarvoor je betaalt. In het geval van Big Tech betekent 'gratis' dat je wordt gebruikt. Ik ben gestopt met Gmail en overgestapt op @ProtonMail"]},"specialoffer:time":{"Days":["Dagen"],"Hours":["Uur"],"Min":["Min"]},"specialoffer:title":{"And much more":["En nog veel meer"],"Make your inbox yours":["Personaliseer uw inbox"],"Safe from trackers":["Beschermd tegen trackers"],"Stay organized":["Houd overzicht"],"Black Friday email deals":["Black Friday-deals voor e-mail"],"Don’t just take our word for it":["U hoeft ons niet te geloven"],"Our story":["Ons verhaal"],"Transfer your data from Google in one click":["Zet uw gegevens van Google over met één klik"]},"specialoffer:tooltip":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES }+ countries, connect up to 10 devices, access worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Bekijk geblokkeerde inhoud en surf privé. Met ${ TOTAL_SERVERS } servers in meer dan ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES } landen, verbinding met maximaal 10 apparaten, wereldwijd toegang tot streamingdiensten, malware- en advertentieblokkering, en meer."],"Easily share your calendar with your family, friends or colleagues, and view external calendars.":["Deel uw agenda eenvoudig met uw familie, vrienden of collega's, en bekijk externe agenda's."],"Includes support for 1 custom email domain, 10 email addresses, 10 hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Ondersteuning voor 1 aangepast e-maildomein, 10 e-mailadressen, 10 hide-my-email-aliassen, gedeelde agenda's en meer."],"Includes support for 3 custom email domains, 15 email addresses, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Ondersteuning voor 3 aangepaste e-maildomeinen, 15 e-mailadressen, onbeperkt hide-my-email-aliassen, gedeelde agenda's en meer."],"Manage up to 25 calendars, mobile apps, secured with end-to-end encryption, 1-click calendar import from Google, and more.":["Beheer tot 25 agenda's, mobiele apps, beveiligd met end-to-end versleuteling, agenda's van Google importeren met 1 klik, en meer."]},"Status Banner":{"At the moment we are experiencing issues with the Proton VPN service":["Momenteel werkt de dienst van Proton VPN niet naar behoren"],"Learn more":["Meer informatie"]},"Status banner":{"Learn more":["Meer informatie"],"Please note that at the moment we are experiencing issues with the ${ issues[0] } service.":["We ondervinden op dit moment problemen met de ${ issues[0] }service."],"We are experiencing issues with one or more services at the moment.":["We ondervinden momenteel problemen met een of meer services."]},"suggestions":{"Suggestions":["Suggesties"]},"Support":{"Sub category":["Subcategorie","Subcategorieën"]},"Support article":{"${ readingTime } min":["${ readingTime } min","${ readingTime } min"],"Category":["Categorie","Categorieën"],"Didn’t find what you were looking for?":["Niet gevonden wat u zocht?"],"General contact":["Algemene contactgegevens"],"Get help":["Krijg hulp"],"Legal contact":["Contactgegevens voor juridische zaken"],"Media contact":["Contactgegevens voor media"],"Partnerships contact":["Contactgegevens voor partnerschappen"],"Reading":["Lezen"]},"Support categories":{"Browse Proton product support":["Zoeken in Proton-productondersteuning"]},"Support category":{"There is no article in this category yet.":["Er zijn nog geen artikelen in deze categorie."]},"Support troubleshooting":{"--- Select ---":["--- Selecteren ---"],"App version":["App-versie"],"Browser":["Browser"],"Check if this helps":["Kijk of dit helpt"],"Choose a category for your question":["Kies een categorie voor uw vraag"],"Choose a product":["Kies een product"],"Did this solve your issue ?":["Heeft dit uw probleem opgelost?"],"Faster assistance is just a few clicks away — please make your selections":["Snellere ondersteuning binnen een paar klikken — maak uw keuze"],"No, contact support":["Nee, contact opnemen met ondersteuning"],"Proton account":["Proton-account"],"Proton Bridge":["Proton Bridge"],"Proton Calendar":["Proton Calendar"],"Proton Drive":["Proton Drive"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Proton Mail":["Proton Mail"],"Proton Pass":["Proton Pass"],"Proton VPN":["Proton VPN"],"Thank you for your feedback":["Bedankt voor uw feedback"],"Troubleshooting":["Probleemoplossing"],"What can we help with ?":["Waar mogen we u bij helpen?"],"Yes":["Ja"]},"support_modal_search_query":{"Search query":["Zoekopdracht"]},"support_search_button":{"Search":["Zoeken"]},"support_search_i_am_looking_for":{"I'm looking for":["Ik ben op zoek naar"]},"SupportForm":{"For a faster resolution, please report the issue from the Bridge app: Help > Report a problem.":["Om problemen sneller op te lossen, meldt u het via de Bridge-app: Help > Een probleem melden."],"Information":["Informatie"]},"SupportForm:option":{"Account Security":["Accountbeveiliging"],"Contacts":["Contactpersonen"],"Custom email domain":["Aangepast e-maildomein"],"Email delivery and Spam":["E-maillevering en spam"],"Encryption":["Versleuteling"],"Login and password":["Inlognaam en wachtwoord"],"Merge aliases and accounts":["Aliassen en accounts samenvoegen"],"Migrate to Proton":["Migreren naar Proton"],"Notifications":["Meldingen"],"Other":["Overig"],"Plans and billing":["Abonnementen en facturering"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Sign up":["Inschrijven"],"Storage":["Opslag"],"Users, addresses, and identities":["Gebruikers, adressen en identiteiten"]},"SupportForm:optionIntro":{"Select a topic":["Kies een onderwerp"]},"swiss_baseed_feature":{"Swiss based":["Gevestigd in Zwitserland"]},"Testimonial":{"Awards":["Awards"],"Customers":["Klanten"],"Featured":["Featured"],"Go to testimonial source":["Naar bron van testimonial"],"Reviews":["Reviews"],"Videos":["Video's"]},"Text":{"Find the plan that's right for you":["Vind het abonnement dat bij u past"],"If you need help, check out our ${ supportLink }.":["Bekijk onze ${ supportLink } als u hulp nodig hebt."],"The page you’re looking for might have been removed, or it could be an\nold link.":["De pagina waarnaar u op zoek bent, is mogelijk verwijderd, of u gebruikt een oude koppeling."]},"Title":{"On this page":["Op deze pagina"],"Related articles":["Gerelateerde artikelen"],"Share ${ thisPage }":["${ thisPage } delen"],"Thank you!":["Bedankt!"],"this page":["deze pagina"]},"Tooltip":{"More information":["Meer informatie"]},"tooltip_calendar":{"Create up to 20 custom & shareable encrypted calendars. On top of that, add up to 5 calendars from friends, family, colleagues, and organizations.":["Maak tot 20 aangepaste en deelbare versleutelde agenda's aan. Voeg daar bovenop tot 5 agenda's toe van vrienden, familie, collega's en organisaties."]},"tooltip_vpn":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Bekijk geblokkeerde inhoud en surf privé. Met meer dan ${ TOTAL_SERVERS } servers in meer dan ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES } landen, de hoogste VPN-snelheid, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN-verbindingen, wereldwijde streamingdiensten, malware- en advertentieblokkering, en meer."],"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, 10 VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Bekijk geblokkeerde inhoud en surf privé. Met meer dan ${ TOTAL_SERVERS } servers in meer dan ${ TOTAL_COUNTRIES } landen, de hoogste VPN-snelheid, 10 VPN-verbindingen, wereldwijde streamingdiensten, malware- en advertentieblokkering, en meer."]},"version_history_label":{"Version history":["Versiegeschiedenis"]},"version_history_tooltip":{"Store up to ${ versionHistoryNumber } versions of each file for up to ${ years } years":["Bewaar tot ${ versionHistoryNumber } versies van elk bestand tot wel ${ years } jaar"]},"vpn_features_link":{"View VPN plans":["VPN-abonnementen bekijken"]},"vpn_features_useCase":{"Access blocked content and browse privately":["Bekijk geblokkeerde inhoud en surf privé"]}}},"unleashApi":"https://account.proton.me/api"};
// We need to import data (the framework context) from the server
// This Astro feature with define:vars works well but creates an inline script
// So we can't directly import the initFramework helper, we have to store the context
window.frameworkContext = frameworkContext;
})();
In the first seven months of 2023, Big Tech companies have been fined nearly $2.34 billion for privacy violations and abusing their monopoly power. Since the European Union introduced the GDPR in 2018, these companies have been fined upwards of $7 billion.
These are massive amounts, but they don’t seem to have had any appreciable effect on Big Tech’s behavior. That’s because these fines, massive as they are, represent little more than an inconvenience to these companies.
It seems that Google, Facebook, and others view these fines as the price of doing business and will continue to pay these astronomical amounts if it means they can continue abusing your data and crushing alternative business models.
To truly defend our privacy and make the internet a level playing field, we need regulations with teeth, which means we need even bigger fines.
Big Tech’s cash on hand dwarfs their fines
It might be hard to believe a company wouldn’t care about paying over a billion dollars, but it’s easy to understand once you see how much cash on hand these companies have.
Cash on hand refers to a company’s cash after it has paid all its costs. It’s essentially a measure of how much free money a company has (or can easily obtain by selling liquid assets) at any given time.
There are a couple of things to note here. First, all of the highest fines have originated from the EU because they have aggressive anti-monopoly policies, and the GDPR provides a framework for fines for companies that violate their users’ privacy. Second, none of these fines caused any discomfort for these companies.
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, received the largest fine of any Big Tech company, butit could pay that fine a staggering 28 times before it ran out of cash. Microsoft could pay its biggest fine an incredible 1,738 times before it depleted its cash.
Big Tech can pay off most fines with a day’s worth of profit
Cash on hand can be deceiving — it can be inflated if a company recently sold off an asset or dip if a company invests heavily in research and development or infrastructure. This isn’t the case for most Big Tech companies. They’ve steadily carried large cash on hand reserves for years.
Still, revenue is a more accurate depiction of a company’s size and profitability. We can also look at how long it would take each of these companies to make enough revenue to pay off one of these fines.
These numbers are almost too big to comprehend, so it might be easier to benchmark them with how long it takes a company to generate enough revenue to pay off a $1 billion fine.
Revenue earned per hour (based on 2022 figures)
How long it takes to earn $1 billion (based on 2022 figures)
Apple
$45.01 million
22 hours
Alphabet (parent company of Google)
$32.29 million
1 day and 7 hours
Meta (Facebook)
$13.31 million
3 days and 3 hours
Amazon
$58.67 million
17 hours
Microsoft
$22.63 million
1 day and 20 hours
As this table demonstrates, Big Tech companies won’t notice any fine that’s less than $1 billion — in fact, Apple probably made enough revenue to cover its recent $8 million fine(new window) in less time than it took to finish reading the verdict.
Cumulatively, Big Tech companies make enough revenue to pay all the fines they’ve received throughout 2023 ($2.34 billion) in less than a week (six days and five hours).
Big fines require political will
If regulatory fines are meant to signal to companies that they need to change their behavior, then they must be big enough to get those companies’ attention. We know people want to tell these companies to stop collecting their data without their knowledge or permission and stop using their market dominance to box out competitors. Governments are attempting to deliver that message, but it isn’t getting through because the fines are tolerable.
This isn’t a surprise — the GDPR allows for fines up to 4% of annual global turnover (otherwise known as annual revenue). The maximum fines Big Tech could face under the GDPR are as follows:
Company
Maximum fine allowed under the GDPR (based on 2022 revenue)
Apple
$15.77 billion
Alphabet (parent company of Google)
$11.31 billion
Meta (Facebook)
$4.66 billion
Amazon
$20.56 billion
Microsoft
$7.93 billion
These figures might get Big Tech’s attention, but it comes down to the data protection agencies’ (DPAs) willingness to issue maximum fines. That’s never been on the table for a number of reasons, including the complexity of these cases, the armies of lawyers Big Tech employs to obfuscate and delay proceedings, and certain countries’ desire to maintain their “business friendly” reputation.
National DPAs have conflicting interests. They’re charged with protecting their citizens’ privacy rights, but if they adopt business-friendly, laissez-faire interpretations of the GDPR, their home country can attract Big Tech headquarters and the billions of dollars of investments and jobs that come with them.
For example, many Big Tech companies, including Meta and Apple, have chosen Ireland for their EU headquarters because of its favorable tax scheme, meaning Ireland’s DPA has an outsize impact when regulating and punishing Big Tech companies. While the Irish DPA did issue one of the largest GDPR fines ever to Meta ($1.3 billion), it only did so after 10 years of litigation by privacy advocates, such as NOYB(new window).
Afterward, NOYB’s founder, Max Schrems, had this comment(new window), “The Irish regulator has done everything to avoid this decision, but was consistently overturned by the European Courts and institutions. It is kind of absurd that the record fine will go to Ireland — the EU Member State that did everything to ensure that this fine is not issued”.
Who is in charge – Big Tech or elected governments?
The EU has noticed that the DPAs of Ireland and Luxembourg — coincidentally countries that host the headquarters of many large and rich tech companies — have become bottlenecks, slowing down and watering down GDPR investigations. To ensure the DPAs take their mandate to protect people’s privacy seriously, the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, is taking action.
Starting in January 2023, the Commission increased its scrutiny(new window) of DPAs, now requiring updates every two months on every DPA’s data-protection investigations. If the DPAs don’t comply with the Commission’s directives, they could be taken to the European Court of Justice.
This fight is important because Big Tech currently decides how much of your data is collected and how it is used. If we want an internet that respects people’s privacy, the fastest way to get there is to convince Big Tech that abusing people’s data is not only wrong, it’s unprofitable. Big Tech’s profits dwarf the penalties they’re paying. Why would a company jeopardize billions in revenue to avoid paying a fine it can cover with what it earns in a day?
It seems Big Tech’s current approach to these fines is to treat them as permits they have to pay to continue abusing people’s data, their armies of lawyers seemingly much more concerned about avoiding and delaying enforcement of the GDPR rather than complying with it. The EU and DPAs seem to recognize they must step up their approach to win compliance. We hope this inspires other countries, namely the US, to start taking this seriously as well.
But it’s not all on regulators’ shoulders. We, the people, can act as well. While big fines might finally get Big Tech’s attention, there’s one thing these companies are always paying attention to — user numbers. The only thing that could drive Big Tech to reconsider its business model is if it sees tens or hundreds millions of people leaving for privacy-focused alternatives.
Until then, these companies will try to monetize as much data as they can, happy to pay the minor fines they receive. Also, in the time it took you to read this article, Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, and Microsoft made about $28.65 million.
Data breaches are increasingly common. Whenever you sign up for an online
service, you provide it with personal information that’s valuable to hackers,
such as email addresses, passwords, phone numbers, and more. Unfortunately, many
online services f
Secure, seamless communication is the foundation of every business. As more
organizations secure their data with Proton, we’ve dramatically expanded our
ecosystem with new products and services, from our password manager to Dark Web
Monitoring for cr
On the subject of cybersecurity, one term that often comes up is brute force
attack. A brute force attack is any attack that doesn’t rely on finesse, but
instead uses raw computing power to crack security or even the underlying
encryption.
In this a
Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act has become notorious as
the legal justification allowing federal agencies like the NSA, CIA, and FBI to
perform warrantless wiretaps, which sweep up the data of hundreds of thousands
of US citi
In response to the growing number of data breaches, Proton Mail offers a feature
to paid subscribers called Dark Web Monitoring. Our system checks if your
credentials or other data have been leaked to illegal marketplaces and alerts
you if so. Often
Your email address is your online identity, and you share it whenever you create
a new account for an online service. While this offers convenience, it also
leaves your identity exposed if hackers manage to breach the services you use.
Data breaches