Meta Platforms has been fined around $1.3 billion by European Union regulators for sending user information to the U.S.—a record under the bloc’s data-protection laws.
It’s a penalty that will likely heighten the stakes for agreeing a deal between the EU and U.S. over data transfers.
Regulators found Facebook-parent
Meta
(ticker: Meta) had illegally stored data about European users on its servers in the U.S. They also ordered it to stop sending information about European Facebook users to the U.S., and delete data already sent.
Meta shares were down 0.6% in premarket trading on Monday.
The penalty was levied by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission as the enforcer of EU data-protection rules for Meta, which has its European headquarters in Dublin.
“Perhaps more seismic [than the fine] is the order that Meta must stop transfers to the U.S. within 12 weeks (once an appeal deadline has passed), but also to remove all the EU personal data it has already transferred, out of the U.S.A. to the EU or another acceptable country, within six months,” Eddie Powell, data protection partner at London law firm Fladgate, said.
“That is likely to be a big headache for Meta, and it’s notable as the first big use of the authorities’ power to order a suspension of international transfers,” Powell said.
Meta said that the decision was due to a conflict of law between the U.S. government’s rules on access to data and European privacy rights. It said policy makers are expected to resolve that conflict in the summer and there was no immediate disruption to its operations in Europe.
“We will appeal the ruling, including the unjustified and unnecessary fine, and seek a stay of the orders through the court,” Meta said.
A new EU-U.S. data privacy framework that would include restrictions on how American intelligence authorities can access transferred information is currently being negotiated. Two previous agreements were rejected by European courts, which has left U.S. companies such as Meta in a tricky legal situation as they seek to provide services in Europe without expensively restructuring their data storage arrangements.
Write to Adam Clark at [email protected]
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