Risk & ComplianceAlso called: "regulatory fine", "data protection penalty"
Compliance penalties enforce accountability for data protection failures.
Major regulatory frameworks
- GDPR: Up to €20M or 4% of global revenue.
- HIPAA: $100 - $50,000 per violation, up to $1.5M annual.
- PCI DSS: $5,000 - $100,000/month + card brand fines.
- CCPA: $2,500 per violation, $7,500 for intentional.
- SOX: Up to $5M and 20 years imprisonment.
Factors affecting penalties
- Severity: Impact on data subjects.
- Negligence: Intentional vs unintentional violations.
- Response: Cooperation with regulators.
- History: Repeat offenses increase penalties.
- Size: Larger organizations face larger fines.
Recent major penalties
- Amazon (GDPR 2021): €746M.
- Meta (GDPR 2023): €1.2B.
- Equifax (FTC 2019): $575M.
- British Airways (GDPR 2020): £20M.
Beyond fines
- Legal costs and litigation.
- Business disruption and audits.
- Brand damage and customer loss.
- Remediation and security improvements.
- Executive accountability and terminations.
Prevention strategies
- Regular compliance audits.
- Data mapping and classification.
- Privacy by design principles.
- Staff training and awareness.
- Incident response planning.