Another data misuse allegation was levelled against Facebook-owned Meta Platforms on Monday with Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) issuing an unprecedented $1.3 Billion fine following investigation.
Violating privacy rules in data transfers to the U.S., the regulator imposed the sanction on Meta amid calls to review surveillance changes over the group’s data handling.
Earlier this month Identityweek.net reported sanctions against Meta for profiteering from children’s data to sell virtual reality products in the Facebook messenger app, unbeknown to parents trying to safeguard their children’s safety. Meta argued that there was nothing untoward in their actions to process users’ data to deliver personalised services and advertising campaigns as users accepted the terms of the service.
The fines staked up in November 2022 as the DPC imposed sanctions over the infringement of EU data protection rules.
The record-breaking fine this time has brought fresh scrutiny over all of Meta’s actions to flout data protection to the foreground.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, headquartered in Dublin, criticised Meta’s loose changes which failed to “address the risks to the fundamental rights and freedoms” of such transfers in 2020.
Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairs, said that many companies were also using the same legal mechanism. Facebook’s umbrella company Meta now has 5 months to seize processing, storing and using EU protected users’ data to transfer with the U.S.
