The office of the personal data protection commissioner has handled 1616 complaints and imposed fines of €1.37m in the past four years, her office said on Tuesday.

The statement was issued to mark the anniversary of the implementation of the EU’s general data protection regulation (GDPR) on May 25, 2018.

Irene Loizidou Nicolaidou said that of the 1,616 complaints handled up to the end of April, 415 concerned unsolicited advertising, 305 related to notifications of infringement incidents and 74 impact assessments.

In total, the commissioner’s office imposed a total of €1.378.100 worth of fines, stemming from 425 checks and 163 deliberations on reported issues.

Moreover, there were consultations regarding 143 bills and legislative proposals that concerned personal data issues, and a large number of questions were answered in writing.

“Four years have passed since the day the GDPR entered our lives to strengthen all our citizens rights and to improve the level of cooperation among authorities,” the commissioner said.

“The recently established institution also provides benefits to businesses, as it reduces their administrative costs by applying a common legislation while dealing with a single supervisory authority.”

The personal data protection commissioner is responsible for the monitoring of the GDPR.

“We will continue to carry out our duties with the utmost sense of responsibility, while remaining committed to safeguard a genuine respect for privacy in the Cypriot society,” the statement concluded.