If Europe and the US cannot find an agreement to share data between the two continents, Meta is threatening to cancel Facebook and Instagram in the EU.
The U.S. stock market watchdog requires publicly listed companies to report problems that impact profits or losses. For Meta, user data is its main source of revenue. It therefore listed to the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) this 10-K report.
“If there is not a new transatlantic framework for data transfers, we will no longer be able to offer some of our key products and services including Facebook and Instagram,” Meta threatened.
Meta emphasizes that it does not want to leave Europe, but the company stresses that it is counting on data transfers between the EU and the U.S. to operate global services. “We are following very closely the potential impact on our European operations.”
European Privacy Shield
Meta initially counted on the Privacy Shield data treaty between the U.S. and the EU, but the European Supreme Court scrapped that regulation. According to the court, the regulations could not be trusted and would give U.S. intelligence agencies access to European personal data. Companies sending personal data from the EU to other legal regions must provide the same safeguards around privacy as in the EU itself.
Meta/Facebook was allowed to temporarily continue data transfers after the ruling until there was more clarity. The Irish court previously ruled that no resolution was possible. Meta now says it expects a final decision from the Irish regulator in the coming months. If that is not positive for Meta, it will have to stop its data transfers outside the EU. That decision has long been on the agenda. Meta previously tried to influence them with an out-of-the-blue and objectively wrong interpretation of the applicable rules.
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