Facebook avoided the risk of being forced to shut down its service in Europe this summer due to the latest change in a long-running data protection complaint story involving a conflict between Facebook’s privacy EU and US surveillance law.
The delay – in what people still expect is a suspension order for Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to stop illegal data exports – after protesting against a draft decision by the data protection authority. data from other regional DPAs who reviewed it.
The Irish business articles previously developed.
Under the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), cross-border claims typically require cooperation and at least consensus from the DPA in the affected regions, so it provides empowers interested agencies to review the draft decisions of key data custodians.
“We received some objections from a small number of Data Protection Authorities in this case,” confirmed Ireland Data Protection Commission (DPC) Deputy Commissioner Graham Doyle. “We are currently evaluating objections and will engage with the relevant authorities to try to resolve the issues raised.”
Doyle declined to provide details of specific objections received.
This development means that a final decision on the (apparently) existing story regarding the legality of Facebook’s data transfers – and the fate of its service in Europe – will be made. for at least a few more months.
In a previous cross-border GDPR complaint, involving WhatsApp, where objections were similarly raised to Ireland’s implementation of the proposal, it took a total of about nine months before the final decision (and heavy fine) has been issued.
Meta will also most likely challenge the suspension in the Irish courts – and may also apply to stay, as it has done before, to try to continue operating as it is.
Come back September 2020DPC sent a preliminary suspension to Facebook over data transfer issues – causing legal challenge. Facebook won the right to stay but its attempt to withdraw the regulator’s decision through judicial review, challenging its procedure, was ultimately rebuffed in May 2021 revive the execution process – which has been honed since then.
The District People’s Committee will not comment on the expected time frame for a final decision due to objections to its draft.
That, in any case, will depend on whether differing views on enforcement between DPAs can be resolved without requiring a formal dispute resolution mechanism in the GDPR – which may require The European Data Protection Board intervenes (as happened in the case of WhatsApp).
If the DPAs cannot come to an agreement on their own and the EDPB must participate, the ability to make a final decision will not be out of bounds in 2023.
Max Schrems, the privacy campaigner and attorney who originally filed the complaint about Facebook’s data transfers (from 2013 onward!), has said he expects significant delays in the process. enforcement of any suspensions – including Meta appeals – such as we have reported before.
The tech giant has a specific incentive to delay enforcement for as long as possible as it may be basing on (or, hoping) a new data transfer agreement between the EU and the US to save its services. Facebook in Europe.
Preliminary agreement on a new high-level agreement between the US and the EU on data transfers – replacing the defunct Privacy Shield (which is a very obvious loss in this Facebook data transfer complaint story so far) ; its predecessor was Safe Harbor) – achieved back in Steps are. And, this early yearThe European Commission has suggested that it could be completed by the end of the year.
Since then, some reports have suggested that the process of agreeing a final text may not be as smooth as expected, so a replacement agreement may not come as quickly – which would further complicates Meta’s banking ‘strategy’ (if we may call it that) delaying enforcement giving it enough time to move data transfers in Europe to a new regulatory base , not challenged.
The result then will of course reset the whole game of laws and regulations again. So well, maybe this story can still have years, plural, to run…
