Meta Platforms Inc. is facing an order to suspend data transfers to the United States by the European Union (EU) agency responsible for protecting personal information, The Irish Times reported.
The Dublin-based Data Protection Commission’s (DPC) ruling could cause Facebook’s parent company to retaliate by removing its websites from Europe.
DPC Commissioner Helen Dixon sought the suspension Monday (Feb. 21), the news outlet reported. The final decision to proceed with the order is up to her European counterparts.
If the judgement is agreed to by EU regulators, the decision would have sweeping impacts on any company that transfers data between the EU and the U.S.
Meta has 28 days to respond to the preliminary decision, Dixon’s spokesman said.
A Meta spokesman told The Times that suspension of data transfers would not only impact millions of people, businesses and nonprofits in the EU who use the service, but also affect other companies that rely on EU-US data transfers to provide a global service.
“A long-term solution on EU-US data transfers is needed to keep people, businesses and economies connected,” Meta said.
The complaint against Facebook stemmed from Max Shrems, founder of the European Center for Digital Rights (NOYB). The Vienna-based nonprofit launched the advocacy group to initiate court cases in support of the General Data Protection Regulation, the EU’s ePrivacy measure.
Schrems said the data of Europeans is at risk when transferred across the pond.
This is not the first action encouraged by NOYB. It filed 101 complaints in the 27 EU member states about the alleged transfer of personal data to the U.S. by Google Analytics.
Read more: French Privacy Regulator Rules Against Use of Google Analytics
Earlier this month, France’s privacy overseer told Google that an unnamed website cannot use Google Analytics because it transfers personal information to the United States in breach of the EU’s privacy law.
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