Facebook parent, Meta Platforms Inc. was slapped with €1.2-billion (R25-billion) fine by its European Union privacy regulator for its handling of user information and given five months to stop transferring users’ data to the US.
According to Data Protection Commission (DPC) statement on Monday Meta Platforms Inc. will be handed €746-million (R15.6-billion) record EU privacy fine by Luxembourg on Amazon.com in 2021.
Meta failed to honour a court warning aimed at protecting user’s data from US security services issued by Ireland’s data protection commission.
In a statement by Meta, they said they will appeal the ruling, including “unjustified and unnecessary fine”.
According to Reuters, the battle over where Facebook stores its data began a decade ago after Max Schrems an Austrian privacy campaigner brought legal challenges over the risk of US snooping in light of disclosures by former US National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.
Last month, Meta said they plan to implement the safe transfer of EU citizens’ personal data to the US before it has suspended transfers.
The fine will only affect Facebook and no other Meta services, such as Instagram. The agreed-upon new data protection framework by European Union and the US government in March 2022, may be ready by July.
