Facebook has secured the unwanted accolade of having been subject to the most probes by Ireland’s data protection regulator.

The social media giant, along with its Instagram and WhatsApp subsidiaries, is currently subject to no less than 11 statutory investigations in Ireland out of a total workload that includes just 19 cases.

This increased workload is a direct consequence of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations, which came into force last year and tightened the rules around the use of personal data throughout the continent.

Other social media firms to fall foul of the Data Protection Commission include Twitter and LinkedIn.

Facebook has already been forced to set aside $5bn to cover a huge penalty levied by the US Federal Trade Commission in relation to the Cambridge Analytica scandal.