/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24016885/STK093_Google_04.jpg)
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/24808816/Starfield__The_Settled_Systems___Supra_Et_Ultra_____Starfield__The_Settled_Systems___Supra_Et_Ultra_2023_7_25_94252.263_1440p_streamshot.png)
EU data regulators have fined Meta $1.3 billion (about €1.2 billion) and ordered the company to transfer EU Facebook user data to the US by October. The fine is on top of Amazon’s $886 million fine from the EU for data security breaches in 2021.
Meta says it plans to appeal the ruling, and is seeking a stay of the order.
In 2013, US whistleblower Edward Snowden leaked highly classified information about the National Security Agency’s global surveillance programs, leading to a discussion about Facebook’s data management policies. Snowden’s revelations revealed that Facebook provided personal data of European users to the NSA and other US government agencies.
Too: Best Secure Browser for Privacy
Shortly after the whistleblowing, Austrian lawyer and privacy activist Max Schrems petitioned EU courts to investigate Facebook’s data transfers from the EU to the US.
Since then, EU regulators have made efforts to prevent tech companies from transferring European user data to other countries. The European Union has some of the most well-incorporated data protection laws that cover every citizen of every country belonging to the European Union. of the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulates how much and what type of personal data leaves the EU.
The GDPR contains clauses that allow tech companies like Facebook to operate within the EU, provided that EU user data remains protected even if it leaves the EU. But the laws are complex and sometimes hard to enforce when EU web surfers access US social media sites, as the US has no federal laws to protect user data.
Too: how to encrypt your email
for the last few years EU and US try to reach agreement on how to handle EU user data – with no success, Now, the courts are saying that Facebook violated provisions of the GDPR by allowing the data of Facebook users from the EU to be surveilled by the US. Government.
The Irish watchdog, the Data Protection Commission of Ireland, is Meta’s main privacy regulator within the European Union as the company is headquartered in Dublin. In addition to the monetary fine, Meta was ordered to stop sending EU user data to the US. By October and restructuring its data collection methods by November to comply with EU privacy regulations.
According to the Commission, Meta must stop “illegal processing, including storage in the US”, which means Meta must delete all EU user data.
Too: Best VPN for iPhone and iPad
As of 2020, there was an agreement between Meta and the EU on how to handle user data under a deal called the Privacy Shield. Privacy Shield deals with thousands of tech, auto and financial companies and decides how to transfer EU data to the US.
But in 2020, the Privacy Shield was struck down by the EU’s top court, ruling that the agreement still allowed the US government to access EU user data. Without Privacy Shield and without a new agreement, Meta’s fate in the EU is unclear.
At the end of last year, the European Commission announced that EU and US were drafting another deal Similar to Privacy Shield, but the deal will include more legal protections and safeguards for EU user data.
However, like any piece of legislation, drafting an agreement that both parties are happy with will take time and may not be ready before Meta’s October deadline to stop data transfers.
In Meta’s latest earnings report, the company said it may have to stop facebook offer in europe, “which would materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.” The company says there must be a deal between the EU and the US regarding user data storage in order to continue operating in the EU.
Too: 4 ways to secure your remote working setup
But according to EU lawmaker Axel Voss, Meta “cannot blackmail the EU into giving up its data protection standards,” he Tweeted In response to Meta.
Some experts say that although Meta’s $1.3 billion fine is hefty and the largest in the history of EU data privacy suits, money is not Meta’s biggest issue. Meta must re-imagine its data transfer policies, which will prove difficult as the legal framework surrounding the issue does not exist in the US.
“This order to remove data is really a headache for Meta,” said Jonny Ryan, senior fellow at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. “It is very difficult to see how he would be able to comply with that order.”
On the other hand, some say the big fine shows tech companies that data privacy is something the EU takes very seriously.
Too: Don’t fall for fake ChatGPT apps: Here’s what to look out for
“The unprecedented fines are a strong signal to organizations that serious breaches have far-reaching consequences,” said Andrea Jellinek, chair of the European Data Protection Board.
