AEPD figures and sanctions in 2022

AEPD Statistics

2022 has been a busy year for the Spanish Data Protection Agency(AEPD), as the number of complaints increased by 9% compared to 2021 and by 47% compared to 2020, with the total number of complaints received being 15,128, according to information published in its 2022 Annual Report.

Of this universe of complaints, it is important to point out that not all of them end up in a sanctioning procedure, since only 11% reach this status, and almost 80% are resolved by means of satisfactory responses issued by the data controllers.

The most reported areas

Citizens have seen their data protection rights violated mainly in the following areas, these being, therefore, the most denounced:

1- Internet services

2- Video surveillance

3- Receiving unwanted advertising

4- Undue insertion in delinquency files

Most frequent sanctioning procedures

The top 10 most frequent sanctioning procedures are:

1- Video surveillance: 29%.

2- Internet services: 15%.

3- Public administration: 9%.

4- Personal data breaches: 6%.

5- Spam through emails or SMS: 5%.

6- Labor matters: 5%.

7- Health: 4%.

8- Advertising: 4%.

9- Trade, transportation and hotels and restaurants: 4%.

10- Fraudulent hiring: 3%.

Areas with the highest number of fines

The six areas most sanctioned by the AEPD (accumulating 87% of a total amount of €20,775,361) were:

1- Internet services: 55% (11,492,201 euros)

2- Advertising (except SPAM): 11% (2,291,800 euros)

3- Labor issues: 11% (2,198,800 euros)

4- Personal data breaches: 4% (821,800 euros)

5- Fraudulent contracting: 3% (706,800 euros)

6- Telecommunications: 3% (632,000 euros)

In comparison with the overall figures for the EEA countries, it should be noted that the AEPD declared 40.2% of the penalties in 2022 but imposed only 2.5% of the fines.

Apart from these figures, on May 6, 2022, the list of entities that received fines of more than one million euros was published in the BOE (Official State Gazette), as provided for in Article 76.4 of the LOPD-GDD:

2,100,000 euros -CAIXABANKS.A: 2,100,000 euros

-AMAZON ROAD TRANSPORT SPAIN, S.L.: 2,000,000 euros.

-GOOGLELLC: 10.000.000 euros

Resolution time by the AEPD

Given that Article 65.5 of the LOPD-GDD establishes a period of 3 months to analyze whether the complaint filed is admitted or inadmissible, the AEPD records an average period of 25 days, which is significantly less than the response time allowed by law.

Once the claim has been admitted, the resolution periods may vary depending on the type of procedure followed:

-Resolutionsafter previous investigation proceedings: 262 days

-Resolutionsin the exercise of rights procedure: 84 days

-Resolutionsin the sanctioning procedure: 242 days

Data protection officers in figures

According to article 34.3 of the LOPD-GDD, when a Data Protection Officer(DPD / DPO) is appointed by public or private entities, they must communicate it within 10 days to the AEPD, for registration.

In 2022, 100,350 communications concerning the appointment of data protection officers were recorded, of which:

91,221 communications pertained to private entities

9,129 communications belonged to public entities:

-182 of the General State Administration

-433 of the Autonomous Communities

-537 of Local Entities

-977 of other public-legal entities (e.g. irrigation communities, notaries, professional associations, etc.).

You need a Data Protection Expert

In view of these data, once again we want to emphasize that the Data Protection Regulation is a legal obligation that every company must comply with, so that having the support of an expert Data Protection Consultant or a Data Protection Officer at all times is increasingly important, both to comply with the law and to avoid being sanctioned, and in the case of being sanctioned, to be properly covered and advised to meet the requirements of the AEPD.

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