The European Union (EU) has issued a record fine to American tech giant Meta for violating GDPR regulations. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the company must pay 1.3 billion dollars (1.2 billion euros) for unlawfully transferring user data to the US. This is despite the fact that the EU’s highest court ruled the Privacy Shield treaty, which made the transfer possible, was not sufficient to guarantee the privacy of the data.
Meta has been using the still controversial “Standard Contractual Clauses” (SSCs) for the transfer of user data. American tech companies have been using these contracts to claim they have an agreement with end users for the transmission of data to the US. Opponents of SSCs have now been heard by the Irish Data Protection Commission, as many American tech companies have their European headquarters in Dublin.
In addition to the fine, the Irish Data Protection Commission also wants to force Meta to stop using the SSCs. This is a heavier blow than the fine, as it threatens the company’s revenue model. Meta has indicated that it will stop providing services if the SSCs are challenged. The EU has also indicated that Meta must stop processing EU user data in the US and must destroy all data of EU citizens who are not on the European continent within six months. According to WSJ, Meta considers this transition to be extremely complex.
The European Union has issued a record fine to American tech giant Meta for violating General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), the company must pay 1.3 billion dollars (1.2 billion euros) for unlawfully transferring user data to the US. This is despite the fact that the EU’s highest court ruled that the Privacy Shield treaty, which made the transfer possible, was not sufficient to guarantee the privacy of the data.
Meta has been using the still controversial “Standard Contractual Clauses” (SSCs) for the transfer of user data. American tech companies have been using these contracts to claim they have an agreement with end users for the transmission of data to the US. Opponents of SSCs have now been heard by the Irish Data Protection Commission, as many American tech companies have their European headquarters in Dublin.
In addition to the fine, the Irish Data Protection Commission also wants to force Meta to stop using the SSCs. This is a heavier blow than the fine, as it threatens the company’s revenue model. Meta has indicated that it will stop providing services if the SSCs are challenged. The EU has also indicated that Meta must stop processing EU user data in the US and must destroy all data of EU citizens who are not on the European continent within six months. According to WSJ, Meta considers this transition to be extremely complex.
