Data & Privacy · Ireland
Data & Privacy - Ireland
As an EU member state, Ireland applies the directly-effective GDPR as its comprehensive personal-data protection baseline, supplemented nationally by the Data Protection Act 2018, which gives further effect to the GDPR and transposes the EU Law Enforcement Directive into Irish law. The independent Data Protection Commission, established on 25 May 2018, is the national supervisory authority and also enforces the ePrivacy Regulations 2011. Because many global tech companies have their EU headquarters in Ireland, the DPC acts as the EU Lead Supervisory Authority for them and is one of the most active enforcers in Europe.
The GDPR applies directly in Ireland and is the comprehensive, omnibus data-protection law. The Data Protection Act 2018 gives it further effect domestically, legislating on the areas where the GDPR allows national derogations.
The Data Protection Commission (DPC), established under the Data Protection Act 2018 (in force 25 May 2018), is Ireland's independent national supervisory authority responsible for upholding individuals' data-protection rights and enforcing GDPR.
The Act also transposes the EU Law Enforcement Directive (LED) into Irish law, governing personal-data processing for the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences, where the GDPR does not apply.
Electronic communications privacy and cookies are governed by S.I. No. 336/2011 (the ePrivacy Regulations), also enforced by the DPC. Cookies generally require GDPR-standard consent unless strictly necessary to deliver a user-requested service (Reg. 5(3) and 5(5)).
Under Article 56 GDPR's one-stop-shop, the DPC is the Lead Supervisory Authority for many major tech firms headquartered in Ireland, coordinating cross-border enforcement with peer EU/EEA authorities and the EDPB.
The DPC has imposed major fines, including €530m on TikTok (May 2025) for unlawful EEA-to-China data transfers under Art. 46(1)/Art. 13(1)(f), €310m on LinkedIn (Oct 2024) and €251m and €91m on Meta (Dec/Sep 2024).
Machine-assisted translation · verified 5/23/2026 · orientation, not legal advice. English version →