Meta hit with record fine over EU data rules
Dublin, Ireland – Facebook owner Meta has been fined a record 1.2bn euros (Us$1.3bn) for transferring EU user data to the United States in breach of a previous court ruling, Ireland's regulator announced on Monday.
The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which acts on behalf of the European Union, said the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) had ordered it to collect "an administrative fine in the amount of 1.2bn euros".
The DPC has been investigating Meta Ireland's transfer of personal data from the EU to the United States since 2020.
It found that Meta, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, failed to "address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects" that were identified in a previous ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The CJEU interprets EU law to make sure it is applied in the same way in all member states.
In response, Meta said it was "disappointed to have been singled out" and the ruling was "flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies".
Meta said it hopes to see the US and EU adopt a new legal framework for the use of personal data in the coming months, following an agreement in principle last year, which could allow it to continue its data transfer practices.
EU regulators have hit Meta with four fines in six months – and three this year – over data breaches by its Instagram, Whatsapp and Facebook services.
In January, the DPC fined the social media giant 390mn euros for breaking data rules in its use of targeted advertising on its apps.
In March, Meta was made to pay 5.5mn euros for breaching the GDPR with its Whatsapp messaging service.
Online trader Amazon was fined 746mn euros in Luxembourg in 2021 for infringing the EU'S General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
In the latest case, the DPC had initially wanted to force Meta to suspend the offending data transfers, saying that a fine "would exceed the extent of powers that could be described as being 'appropriate, proportionate and necessary'".