Meta Platforms has been hit with a record $1.3 billion fine for violating European Union rules that prohibit transferring the data of EU citizens to other countries. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, the agency of record in the region in which Meta was sued, said that the tech giant continues to operate outside of compliance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) after a 2020 ruling by the bloc’s highest court found that Facebook user data was being shipped to America without adequate protection from U.S. spy agencies. Continue reading Meta Is Fined $1.3 Billion for Facebook’s EU Privacy Violation

President Biden has signed an executive order designed to repair data sharing with the European Union. The arrangement has been in disarray since 2020, when the Court of Justice of the European Union nullified the Privacy Shield, jeopardizing what the White House calls a $7.1 trillion economic relationship, premised on companies doing business on both sides of the pond. Friday’s executive order stipulates new ways for the EU to challenge what it had previously identified as objectionable U.S. government surveillance practices. In March, the U.S. and European Union agreed “in principle” to a revamped framework for data transfers. Continue reading White House Updates Data Protection Framework with the EU

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission sent Facebook a preliminary order to cease data transfers of its European Union users to the U.S., a move confirmed by Facebook vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg. In doing so, EU regulators have taken a major step to enact a July ruling forbidding such transfers. Facebook would have to partition the data it collects from European users or stop serving them altogether. Otherwise, Ireland’s commission can fine Facebook up to $2.8 billion, 4 percent of its annual revenue. Continue reading Ireland Orders Facebook to Stop Moving EU Data to the U.S.

The European Union’s top court voided a transatlantic data-sharing pact this week, ruling that EU residents’ data, when moved to the U.S., are not sufficiently protected from that government’s surveillance. The legal battle began in 2013, when privacy activist Max Schrems complained to the Irish Data Protection Commissioner, pointing to Edward Snowden’s leaks as proof that U.S. law did not protect against scrutiny. Countries outside of the European Union and companies that want to move EU data abroad must now meet strict EU data laws. Continue reading Privacy Shield: Top EU Court Strikes Down Data Transfer Pact

Following extensive debate, the European Union has approved the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield data transfer agreement that will replace Safe Harbor, which “was struck down by the European Court of Justice in October of last year over concerns about how EU data was being treated once it was transferred to the U.S.,” reports Digital Trends. According to the European Commission’s press release, “For the first time, the U.S. has given the EU written assurance that the access of public authorities for law enforcement and national security will be subject to clear limitations, safeguards and oversight mechanisms and has ruled out indiscriminate mass surveillance of European citizens’ data.” Continue reading EU Approves Debated Privacy Shield to Replace Safe Harbor