LONDON – European Union regulators have imposed a record 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) fine on technology company Meta for transferring personal data of Facebook users from the European Union to servers in the USA.
Announcing the fine in a statement on Monday, the European Data Protection Board said the decision came after an investigation into Facebook by the Irish Data Protection Commission, the main regulator overseeing Meta’s operations in Europe.
The fine is the largest ever imposed under Europe’s signature data privacy law, known as the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR. Meta was also ordered to stop processing personal data of European users in the United States within six months.
Andrea Jellinek, president of the European Data Protection Board, said the Meta breach is “very serious because it deals with transfers that are systematic, repetitive and continuous.”
“Facebook has millions of users in Europe, so the amount of personal data transferred is enormous. The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organizations that serious breaches have far-reaching consequences.”
European Commission bans TikTok on official devices EU fines Google for the third time 2:50 Facebook still available in Europe
Meta, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, said it would appeal the ruling, including the fine. He said there would be no immediate disruption of Facebook in Europe.
The company said the root of the problem stems from a “conflict of law” between US regulations on data access and the privacy rights of Europeans. EU and US lawmakers were on a “clear path” to resolve the dispute under a new transatlantic data privacy framework.
The European Data Protection Board “decided to ignore the clear progress made by parliamentarians to address this underlying issue,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, and Jennifer Newsted, the company’s chief legal officer, said in a statement.
“This decision is flawed, unfair, and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies that transfer data between the EU and the US,” he said.
“The ability to transfer data across borders is critical to the functioning of a global open internet. Thousands of businesses and other organizations rely on the ability to transfer data between the EU and the US to operate and deliver the services people use every day. Can provide
