Europeans risk being left without Facebook and Instagram as the Irish regulator insists on stopping the sending of personal data of European users of the platform to the US.
Ireland has the upper hand in the EU, as Meta is based there. The Irish Data Protection Commission has informed its counterparts in Europe that it will block the transfer of user data from the Old Continent to the U.S.
In 2020, a temporary injunction was issued blocking the data transfer; eventually, the EU and the U.S. had temporarily agreed on a framework regarding the data flow pending a final decision. Meanwhile, the Irish DPC authority has continued its investigation and has now informed its counterparts in Europe.
Meta has repeatedly warned that such a ruling would shut down many of its services in Europe, including Facebook and Instagram.
"Unless a new transatlantic data transfer framework is approved and we are unable to continue to rely on SCC or rely on other alternative means of transferring data from Europe to
the United States, we will likely not be able to offer some of our most important products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe," Meta had said.
The EU and the US are in the midst of negotiating a new data transfer text that would allow companies like Meta to continue sending data regardless of the Irish ruling.
Brussels and Washington in March agreed a preliminary agreement at the political level, but negotiations on the fine print have stalled and it is unlikely that a final deal will be reached before the end of the year.
A spokesman for the Irish DPC confirmed that the draft decision had been sent to other European privacy regulators, who now have a month to express their views but will not discuss details of the decision.
Source: lifo.gr / Politico & Reuters
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