The European Union has hit Meta with a record €1.2 billion($1.3 billion) fine for it’s inappropriate data-sharing practices, happening between the US and EU.
This is the result of a decade-long investigation where the EU asked Meta to stop sharing EU people’s data with US servers. Though Meta came up with a partial solution, the EU court ruled this effort citing ineffective. Aside from the penalty, the bloc also dictated to Meta to comply with it’s data sharing practises under GDPR in the next six months.
Demanding Special Provisions For EU Data Sharing
Having the strongest data privacy laws, the European Union is often tangled with lawsuits from it’s citizens or activists against big techs, like Microsoft, Google, Apple etc. This week, the union handed a grand fine of €1.2 billion to Meta, citing it’s illegal data-sharing practices.
This penalty was the result of a decade-long investigation from the EU, pronounced by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission. The union was concerned about Meta’s sharing of EU users’ data with US servers and wanted them to stay within it’s geographical limits. But Meta confronted that it’s operations can’t work effectively, and has been sharing the data over local rules.
Though the company brought in a US-EU Privacy Shields feature, the European Court of Justice ruled this framework ineffective, saying the arrangements made to safeguard these external data transfers “did not address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects” in the Union.
Apart from the penalty, the Union has given Meta five months to stop future transfers of EU citizen data to the US and six months to bring it’s operations under the GDPR.
Well, this would most likely be appealed by Meta – considering both the US and EU are making plans for a new framework for safer data transfers. While it’s yet to happen, Meta’s president of global affairs, Sir Nick Clegg said the cross-border data flows are vital for many businesses and not just his own(Meta’s). He affirms that the company will appeal the fine and the decision, saying that Facebook has acted in good faith.
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