Irish Watchdog Has One Month To Rule EU-US Facebook Data Transfers

The European Union regulators announced that Ireland’s data regulator has a one-month deadline to issue an order related to blocking Facebook’s transatlantic data flows.

European Union regulators, led by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon, are preparing to prohibit the legal mechanism used by Facebook to transfer user data from Europe due to fears that the data could be accessed by U.S. intelligence agencies.

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Dixon, the lead regulator for Meta in Europe due to its Irish headquarters, stated last month that a ban may be implemented by mid-May.

The European Data Protection Board, comprised of national regulators, issued a statement on Thursday stating that a decision had been made on the matter. The Irish regulator must adopt the decision within a month, at the latest.

Dixon has stated that other regulators did not contest her directive to prohibit the data transfer mechanism, although the decision itself was not disclosed.

Meta declined to comment on the potential impact of a ban on its data transfer mechanism from Europe, which could result in the suspension of Facebook services in the region.