Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, threatens to close its services in Europe if the company’s data transfer requirements are not met.
Technology giant Meta owns, for example, the social media services Facebook and Instagram Iltalehti archive
Politico magazine says that the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) announced on Thursday that it intends to prevent Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, from sending user data from Europe to the United States.
According to the paper, the regulator’s draft decision limits the company’s last legal recourse to transfer large amounts of data to the United States.
Last resort
The Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated the Privacy-Shield agreement between the EU and the US in 2020 due to US surveillance practices. Through the decision, the court also made it difficult to use another tool under the law, the Standard Contractual Clause (SCC).
Meta and many other companies in the United States have used the standard contract clause to transfer personal data to the United States.
This week’s draft decision, if implemented, would mean that Facebook would no longer be able to rely on standard contract clauses.
Meta threats
Meta has warned several times that a similar decision would close many of its services in Europe, such as Facebook and Instagram.
The various European data protection authorities now have a month to give their views on the draft decision.
Meta has threatened that if a new framework cannot be formed for the regulation of data transfer and the company cannot rely on standard contract clauses or alternative tools, the provision of the most significant services in Europe may be stopped.
The technology giant has already been through fierce legal battles with data protection activists for years.