The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) said Meta plans to appeal the decision but has been found guilty of “continuing to transfer” Facebook users’ personal data from the European Economic Area to the United States. .
European Union fines US social media giant goal €1.2 billion (1 trillion Chilean pesos) in damages for breach of data protection regulations Facebook .
The sanctions against Meta in the EU are the third since early 2023 and the fourth in six months. The fines announced this Monday were Highest ever imposed in Europe for violations of this kind.
The previous record was a fine against Amazon for misusing user data for ad management in 2021. At that time, he recalls, the amount had ballooned to 820 million euros. tech crunch.
Meta has been found guilty of “continuing to transfer” users’ personal data from the European Economic Area to the United States in violation of European Economic Area rules, according to the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) decision. explained. As the US Group’s European headquarters are in Ireland, we monitor the application of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on behalf of the EU.
‘Unjust and unnecessary’ sanctions
The decision also requires Meta to “stop all transfers of personal data to the United States within five months” of being notified of the decision and to comply with the GDPR within six months, the DPC said. added.
The fine is the result of an investigation that began in 2020. Meta responded in a statement sent to AFP news agency that it was “unreasonable and unnecessary” and that it planned to appear in court to seek an injunction against the fine.
“Thousands of businesses and organizations rely on being able to transfer data between the EU and the US,” and “there are fundamental legal contradictions for the US government regarding data access and European privacy rights,” says California. giant writes.
Mehta expects the United States and the European Union to adopt a new legal framework for personal data transfers in the coming months, following last year’s agreement in principle.
“American Surveillance”
This is “a big blow for Meta,” European Privacy Association Noyve responded in a statement ( “none of your business”none of your business) has filed numerous lawsuits in Europe against US tech giants.
“Facebook (now Meta) has been the subject of a lawsuit in Ireland since Edward Snowden’s revelations about the aid the US tech giant provides to the NSA’s Mass Surveillance Organization,” he said. It has become,” he emphasized.
Snowden, 39, is a Russian-born former U.S. intelligence computer consultant who leaked classified information about the use of information by the NSA for which he worked in 2013.
In the opinion of Noyb’s founder, Austrian Max Schrems, “The sanctions against Meta, considering that the maximum amount of the fine is over 4 billion and that Meta deliberately broke the law in order to make a profit for 10 years. could have been higher.”
“If US surveillance laws are not corrected, Meta will have to fundamentally rebuild its system,” he warned.
series of sanctions
In January, the DPC imposed fines of around €400 million for violations of using personal data for advertising purposes on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp applications.
And in March, it was fined €5.5 million for violating GDPR with its WhatsApp messaging service.
Since then, Meta has committed to amending its terms of use in Europe to continue collecting and processing personal data of European users.
These sanctions are not only in the European Union, but also in the United States, in the context of tightening controls and judicial procedures against the technology giants known as GAFA (Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple), and recent measures taken against China. done. Huge TikTok.
In 2021, Amazon was fined €746 million for GDPR violations in Luxembourg.
Source: Biobiochile
