Facebook inches closer to European blackout
Facebook and Instagram could be prohibited from sending European user data to the United States within the next two months, as critical privacy considerations weigh heavily on decision makers. A final resolution from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) is due by April 14th that will have a binding effect on Meta’s data transfers.
Unless a new transatlantic agreement is made before then, it would leave Meta without a lawful foundation to operationalize their data transfers. And that is a big if taking into account European Parliaments call to Commission not to reject the framework.
This case originated in 2013 when Austrian advocate Max Schrems filed a privacy complaint. The Irish Data Protection Commission proposed disallowing Meta from using standard contractual clauses for exchanging user information with the US in July 2022. This was confirmed by the EU Court of Justice invalidating the EU-US Privacy Shield, deciding that the shield failed to secure EU national data from US authorities’ access.
The Irish Data Protection Commission suggested a ban on Facebook’s utilization of existing contractual clauses to send user data to the US. But following objections standing against its decision by other data protection bureaus the Irish data authority activated an Article 65 dispute resolution process at the end of January. An EDPB spokesperson announced that the processes to establish a binding declaration had been started and will take up to two months to complete.
Source: Facebook inches closer to European blackout – POLITICO
