Meta, in his Annual Report at the Securities and exchange commission (SEC), the policeman of the American stock market threatens to suspend its Facebook and Instagram services from the European Union. In this text published on February 3 and spotted by City AMthe group criticizes the Old Continent for its overly strict regulations on data transfers to the United States.
Meta in an uncomfortable position since the end of the Privacy Shield
In the report submitted to the SEC, Meta asserts “ If we are unable to transfer data between and among the countries and regions in which we operate, or if we are limited in sharing data between our products and services, this could affect our ability to provide our services, the how we provide our services or our ability to target advertisements, which could negatively impact our financial results “.
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Meta mainly blames the EU for the decision of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU), the Schrems II judgment, to annul the Privacy Shield agreement. The latter regulated the transfer of data from the EU to the United States. According to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there can be no transfer of data to a country with a lower level of protection than that existing in Europe. Unless specific insurance is taken out by the company.
The Privacy Shield alleviated these obligations, which the CJEU found to be inconsistent with the GDPR. Meta, which stores, transfers and processes European data on servers in the United States, did not really appreciate this decision.
In the text submitted to the SEC, the company castigates the instability of the texts governing the transfer of international data reinforced by the interpretation ” risky ” of laws, in Europe, in the world and in the United States, still ” relatively new “. From December 2021, Politico had revealed internal notes of Meta, where the non-respect of the decision of the European justice was assumed. The company believes that the data protection regime in the United States is sufficient.
Until now and pending the negotiation of a new agreement, demanded by Meta, Google and other digital companies, Facebook had a temporary way out: the “standard contractual clauses” (SCC).
Only here, the Data Protection Commission (DPC), the Irish CNIL on which Meta depends, judged in a preliminary decision in 2020 the CCTs of Meta contrary, in turn, to the RGPD. The American giant explains that it expects a final decision very soon, ” in the first half of 2022 “.
A simple push or a serious threat?
Time is running out for Meta, otherwise in bad shape with the loss of users on Facebook for the first time in its history. Mark Zuckerberg’s company has therefore decided to pull out the heavy artillery by leaving the possibility of the disappearance of Facebook and Instagram floating.
A posture that will not necessarily be applied as Meta might suffer. The message addressed to Europe and the United States is no less strong, while negotiations for a successor to the Privacy Shield are dragging on. Surely to prevent it from being broken again by the CJEU, like its two predecessors.