Social media giant Facebook and its subsidiaries Instagram and WhatsApp have been the subject of most data investigations in the Republic of Ireland since the European Union's new data protection regulation came into force a year ago. Most of the major US tech companies, including Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Twitter, Apple, LinkedIn, Airbnb and Dropbox, are registered for processing personal data in Ireland. Ireland's Data Protection Commission says it has launched 19 statutory investigations, 11 of which focus on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Twitter and LinkedIn are also under investigation, and last week the commission launched a probe in to Google over the way it uses personal data to provide targeted advertising. This follows on from Google's €50m ($56m; £44m) fine imposed by French data regulator CNIL for "lack of transparency, inadequate information and lack of valid consent regarding ads personalisation". Google is appealing against the decision.