Meta fined €1.2bn for data breach
May 22, 2023
Meta, owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, has been fined €1.2 billion for mishandling people’s data when transferring it between Europe and the US.
The fine, issued by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), it is the largest ever imposed under the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation privacy law.
Meta immediately responded to the ruling saying it will appeal against the “unjustified and unnecessary” fine which sets a “dangerous precedent”.
Meta incurred the fine for transferring EU users’ data to the US for processing, despite a 2020 verdict handed down by the highest EU court saying the data was insufficiently protected from US spying agencies.
Facebook has been ordered to cease the practice and has been given a minimum of five months to suspend future transfers, and six months to stop unlawful processing and storage of data in the US. Instagram and WhatsApp are not subject to the order. This decision does not affect Facebook in the UK.