Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc has been fined a record 1.2 billion euros (US$1.3 billion) for transferring EU user data to the US, contravening a previous court ruling, Irish Data Protection Commission said yesterday.
The regulator, which acts on behalf of the EU, said the European Data Protection Board had ordered it to collect “an administrative fine in the amount of 1.2 billion euros.”
The regulator has been investigating Meta Ireland’s transfer of personal data from the EU to the US since 2020.
Photo: REUTERS
It found that Meta, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, failed to “address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects” that were identified in a previous ruling by the Court of Justice of the EU.
The court interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all member states.
Meta said that it was “disappointed to have been singled out,” and the ruling was “flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies.”
“We intend to appeal both the decision’s substance and its orders, including the fine, and will seek a stay through the courts to pause the implementation deadlines,” Meta president of global affairs Nick Clegg and head legal officer Jennifer Newstead said in a blog post.
“There is no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe,” they added.
Meta said it hopes to see the US and EU adopt a new legal framework for the use of personal data in the coming months, following an agreement in principle last year, which could allow it to continue its data transfer practices.
EU regulators have hit Meta with four fines in six months — and three this year — over data breaches by its Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook services.
In January, the regulator fined the social media giant 390 million euros for contravening data rules in its use of targeted advertising on its apps.
In March, Meta was fined 5.5 million euros for breaching the General Data Protection Regulation with its WhatsApp messaging service.
In the latest case, the regulator had initially wanted to force Meta to suspend the data transfers in question, saying that a fine “would exceed the extent of powers that could be described as being ‘appropriate, proportionate and necessary.’”
However, its peer regulators in the EU, known as Concerned Supervisory Authorities, disagreed and said it should be “subject to an administrative fine,” the regulator said.
With no hope of consensus, the Irish body referred the objections to the European Data Protection Board, which ruled that Meta Ireland must suspend future transfer of personal data to the US and pay a fine.
The board decision to overrule the regulator “raises serious questions,” Clegg and Newstead said.
“No country has done more than the US to align with European rules via their latest reforms, while transfers continue largely unchallenged to countries such as China,” they added.
However, European Data Protection Board chair Andrea Jelinek said Meta’s infringement was “very serious,” calling its data transfers “systematic, repetitive and continuous.”
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