Meta fined $1.3 billion by EU watchdog

Meta (formerly Facebook) was fined a record 1.2 billion Euros ($1.3 billion) by the European privacy regulators for transferring EU user data to the US. Meta's share price rose 1.1% yesterday, now up 99% in 2023 so far.

The fine follows a case initiated by privacy campaigner Max Schrems, who argued that the existing framework for data transfer did not adequately protect European citizens from US surveillance.

The European Court of Justice had previously invalidated the Privacy Shield framework in 2020. The result was that the data of EU citizens now needs to be stored in the EU.

The Irish Data Protection Commission, responsible for overseeing Meta's operations in the EU, alleged that the company violated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by continuing to send personal data to the US despite the court ruling.

Meta, and many other companies, use standard contractual clauses in their T&Cs to transfer user data between continents. The regulator deemed them insufficient though. Meta plans to appeal the decision and the fine.

Transatlantic companies hope that a new data transfer mechanism between the EU and the US will be established before the Irish regulator's deadlines take effect.