Meta fined $1.3 bn for data transfer to US

London, May 22

The European Union (EU) slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine on Monday and ordered it to stop transferring user data across to the US by October. Meta vowed to appeal and ask courts to immediately put the decision on hold.

“There is no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe,” the company said. “This decision is flawed, unjustified and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies transferring data between the EU and US,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global and affairs, and Chief Legal Officer Jennifer Newstead said. — AP

Biggest penalty

It is the biggest penalty since the European Union’s strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon’s 746 million euro fine in 2021 for data protection violations.