The recent £500,000 fine for Facebook regarding the transfer of data to Cambridge Analytica was widely criticised as being inadequate (Facebook makes roughly £3.5 million per hour) but it should not be forgotten that the fine was the maximum allowable under the ‘old’ data protection regime.

Since the commencement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May, the maximum fine which can be levied in such cases is 4 per cent of worldwide turnover, which would have led to a fine of more than £1 billion.