DUBLIN: Facebook owner company Meta has been fined a record 1.2 billion euros (1.3 billion dollars) for transferring European Union (EU) user data to the US in breach of a previous court verdict, Ireland’s regulator said on Monday.
The Irish Data Protection Commission, which acts on behalf of the EU, said the European Data Protection Board had ordered it to collect an administrative fine of 1.2 billion euros.
The DPC has been investigating Meta Ireland’s personal data transfer from the EU to the US since 2020.
It found that the company, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, failed to address the dangers to the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects identified in a previous verdict by the Court of Justice of the European Union.
The CJEU interprets EU law to ensure it is applied similarly in all member countries.
Meta Dismayed
In response, Meta said it was dismayed to have been singled out, and the verdict was unjustified, flawed, and sets a dangerous example for the numerous other companies.
Nick Clegg, Meta president of global affairs, and Jennifer Newstead, chief legal officer, said in a blog post that the company intended to appeal both the ruling’s substance and its orders, including the fine, and will request for a stay through the courts to halt the implementation deadlines.
They added that there was no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe.
The company said it hoped to see the EU and US adopt a new legal framework for personal data usage in the coming months, following a deal in principle in 2022, which could let it continue its data transfer actions.
