Netflix fined €4.75 million by Dutch authorities

The Dutch authorities have fined video streaming giant Netflix €4.75 million for processing subscribers' personal data.

"Between 2018 and 2020, Netflix did not provide customers with enough information about what the company was doing with their personal data. And the information that

Netflix has provided has been unclear in some areas," the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) said in a statement.

The authorities noted that Netflix has since updated its privacy statement and improved its information for subscribers on data use, AFP reported.

According to the AP, the company has appealed the fine.

"A company like this, with billions in turnover and millions of customers around the world, needs to properly explain to its customers how it handles their personal data," AP chairman Aleid Wolfsen said.

"This needs to be crystal clear. Especially if the customer asks about it. And that was not the order of things," he added.

The data protection authority said Netflix had been vague or provided insufficient information in several areas.

Netflix was not clear about why it was collecting personal data, which data was being shared with other countries, how long the data was being stored and how data security was being ensured when it was being transferred outside Europe, it added.  | BGNES