Locatefamily.com – €525,000 Fine (Netherlands, 2020)

The Dutch DPA (AP) has imposed a fine of EUR 525,000 on Locatefamily.com. Locatefamily.com is a platform where people can search for the contact information of family members they have lost contact with or other people they would like to get in touch with. The data subjects complained that their contact information (name, address, phone number) was published on the website without their knowledge. The data subjects were not able to request the deletion of their data published on the site easily, because Locatefamily.com did not have any representation in the European Union. Organizations offering goods or services in the EU must have a representative to whom EU citizens can turn to obtain information or exercise their data protection rights. Accordingly, the Dutch data protection authority found a breach of Art. 27 GDPR.