Meta, the company that owns Facebook, has been penalized 1.2 billion Euro for improper treatment of user data during transfer between Europe and the United States.
The General Data Protection Regulation GDPR privacy law’s largest fine to date was issued by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC).
GDPR lays out guidelines that businesses must adhere to when transferring user data outside of the EU.According to Meta, it will challenge the “unjustified and unnecessary” decision.
The use of standard contractual clauses (SCCs) to transfer data from the European Union to the US is at the heart of this judgement.
These legal agreements, drafted by the European Commission, include protections to guarantee that personal data remains secure when transferred outside of Europe.
There are worries that these data flows could still subject Europeans to the laxer privacy regulations of the US and allow US intelligence to access the data.
The ruling “does not apply in the UK,” the Information Commissioner’s Office informed the BBC, although it added that it had “noted the decision and will review the details in due course.”