Professional social networking site, LinkedIn, has reacted to a $334 million fine by the European Union for allegedly violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules.

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) decided to penalize LinkedIn after finding that the company had inappropriately used behavioral studies of its members’ data for targeted advertising.

By failing to gain appropriate consent, exhibit legitimate interest, or demonstrate a contractual necessity to process the data it and third parties collected, LinkedIn is accused in this ruling of violating the GDPR.

“The lawfulness of processing is a fundamental aspect of data protection law and the processing of personal data without an appropriate legal basis is a clear and serious violation of a data subject’s fundamental right to data protection,” DPC Deputy Commissioner, Graham Doyle stated.

A LinkedIn spokesperson shared a statement with Engadget in response to the decision stating that the company has complied with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

“Today the Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC) reached a final decision on claims from 2018 about some of our digital advertising efforts in the EU.

‘‘While we believe we have been in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we are working to ensure our ad practices meet this decision by the IDPC’s deadline.”