Facebook owner Meta has been hit with a record $1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) fine by European Union regulators for mishandling user information, and has been ordered to suspend the transfer
Facebook owner Meta has been hit with a record $1.3 billion (€1.2 billion) fine by European Union regulators for mishandling user information, and has been ordered to suspend the transfer of data from users in the EU to the United States.


The fine was issued by Ireland's Data Protection Commission, which regulates Facebook across the EU, after it ruled that the social network's data transfers to the U.S. "did not address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms" of EU users and violated General Data Protection Regulation.

The fine constitutes the largest ever imposed under the EU's GDPR privacy law, the previous one being a €746 million penalty issued to Amazon in 2021 for similar privacy violations.

In addition to the fine, Meta was given five months to suspend any future transfer of personal data to the U.S., and six months to end "the unlawful processing, including storage, in the U.S." of transferred personal data. Instagram and WhatsApp, which Meta also owns, are not subject to the order.

A previous mechanism to legally transfer personal data between the U.S. and the EU, known as the "Privacy Shield" pact, was struck down by the EU bloc's top court in 2020. The Irish regulator alleged that Meta infringed on the EU's GDPR laws when it continued to transfer personal data to the U.S. after 2020 despite the court ruling.

The issue has been ongoing for a decade after a legal challenge brought by Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems against Facebook in 2013, over concerns resulting from the Edward Snowden revelations that EU user data is not sufficiently protected from U.S. intelligence agencies when transferred across the Atlantic.

"This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and U.S.," said Nick Clegg, Facebook's president of global affairs, responding to the decision in a blog post. "We will appeal the ruling, including the unjustified and unnecessary fine, and seek a stay of the orders through the courts."
This article, "Facebook Fined Record $1.3 Billion Over EU User Data Transfers to the US" first appeared on MacRumors.com

Discuss this article in our forums

original link


You may also be interested in this

Apple might have to start…

Macworld Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we

Get 20% off OWC Atlas mem…

Expand your storage capacity and speed up file transfers. OWC Atlas memory cards and select card readers are 20% off for AppleInsider readers now through May 31.Save 20% on OWC

The PC market had a rough…

The PC market has its ups and downs, just like any other, but the first quarter of 2023 was a particularly bad one. But at least one market tracker sees

Younger Apple customers m…

Apple has established a reputation for introducing innovative products, albeit at a premium price point, and the potentially higher cost of the Apple Vision Pro may not necessarily impede its

How could Apple implement…

As we step into a new decade, the tech giant Apple stands at the forefront of innovation, continually shaping the landscape of consumer technology. The next 10 years hold immense

Lionel Messi close to joi…

Lionel Messi, the most coveted free agent and greatest player in football (soccer) history is set to sign with Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami, according to a tweet from Guillem

Best USB microphones for …

Find the the best USB microphones to record podcasts, voiceovers, or music that elevate your audio quality.Best USB microphones roundup Read more...

iPhone 15 Pro Max could g…

A predicted price change on the iPhone 15 Pro Max would be the first for Apple’s top-of-the-line model since 2019. (via Cult of Mac - Tech and culture through an
X

A whimsical homage to the days in black and white, celebrating the magic of Mac OS. Dress up your blog with retro, chunky-grade pixellated graphics to evoke some serious computer nostalgia. Supports a custom menu, custom header image, custom background, two footer widget areas, and a full-width page template. I updated Stuart Brown's 2011 masterpiece to meet the needs of the times, made it responsive , got dark mode, custom search widget and more.You can download it from tigaman.com, where you can also find more useful code snippets and plugins to get even more out of wordpress.