An Irish regulator is getting ready to sanction Meta-owned Facebook for its misuse of user data by issuing a fine of over €746 million ($807 million) and ordering the social media platform to halt data transfers to the US.
This was initially reported by Bloomberg and is anticipated to be verified as soon as Monday, May 22.
The punishment will be the largest ever for a violation of the EU's general data protection law, surpassing the €746 million slapped on Amazon by Luxembourg in 2021.
Meta vs. EU
As the primary EU privacy regulator for Facebook and its owner Meta, Ireland's Data Protection Commission's ruling is expected to block data transfers from Facebook's European users to the US.
The Guardian said the verdict probably will not go into effect right away. There will likely be an appeals process, and Meta will be allowed more time to comply with the judgment, which might extend any suspension until the fall.
Concerns that European users' data is not properly secured from US spy agencies when transported over the Atlantic were at the center of the legal challenge launched by Austrian privacy advocate Max Schrems.
Meta's policy leader, Nick Clegg, wrote in 2020 that blocking data transfers based on standard contractual clauses (SCC; a technique used by Facebook and others) may have "a far-reaching effect on businesses that rely on SCCs and on the online services many people and businesses rely on."
According to Meta's most recent quarterly results, the firm would be unable to provide some of its most important products and services in Europe without SCCs or other alternate modes of data transfers.
Notably, according to Reuters, Meta already warned last year that a prohibition on its data transfer mechanism from Europe to the US may compel it to discontinue Facebook services in Europe.
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Johnny Ryan, a senior fellow of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and advocate for stricter protection of internet users' data, has said that a fine of more than €746 million would not be enough to force Facebook to modify its economic model, which is dependent on user data.
"A billion-euro parking ticket is of no consequence to a company that earns many more billions by parking illegally," he argued.
If the politically agreed upon new data transfer agreement between the US and EU is put into effect, any suspension would be null and void.
Speaking for Meta, a representative stated, "This case relates to a historic conflict of EU and US law, which is in the process of being resolved via the new EU-US Data Privacy Framework. We welcome the progress that policymakers have made towards ensuring the continued transfer of data across borders and await the regulator's final decision on this matter."
Meta, also the parent company of Instagram and WhatsApp, has been fined about €1 billion ($1.08 billion) by the Irish data authorities since September 2021. Apple, Google, TikTok, and other digital platforms with EU headquarters in Ireland are governed by the same body.
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