Checking Brussels data protection
Meta warns Facebook and Instagram about EU-Aus

2/7/2022 10:41 am

Processing of European Data on US Servers: An important process for Facebook and Instagram, it is currently being tested in Brussels. However, Meta warns that they will not provide their services in the European Union without an agreement.

The Facebook group Meta warns that Facebook and Instagram will have to shut down if certain data protection laws are passed in the European Union. Transferring data from European users to US servers is particularly important for targeted ads. Tech giant warns that if this is blocked, social networks in Europe will have to shut down, the British and US media quoted the company as saying in its annual report.

Atlantic data transfer, also known as privacy shield and other model agreements, is currently regulated. This allows meta to store European user data on US servers. In its annual report, Meta emphasizes that sharing data between countries and regions is critical to the delivery of its services and targeted advertising. This was reported by the British newspaper “City AM”. Therefore, the company has so far used the Atlantic Data Transfer Framework as the legal basis for these data transfers.

However, in July 2020, the European Court of Europe declared the agreement invalid for data protection violations. After that, a new version of the contract is in operation. According to multiple media reports, the company says that unless it adopts a new framework, its “core products and services”, including Facebook and Instagram, will “probably” no longer be available in the EU.

“We have no desire or intention to withdraw from Europe, but the reality is that META and many other companies, organizations and services rely on EU-US data exchanges to provide global services,” a Meta spokesman said.

Sample contracts are also examined

In addition to the Privacy Shield, so-called meta-model contracts are used as the legal basis for processing data from European users on US servers. These model agreements are under scrutiny in Brussels and other parts of the European Union.

In August 2020, the Irish Data Protection Commission informed Meta that the use of model contracts was not in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation. Therefore, the Data Protection Commission had to suspend the processing of European data on US servers. However, this was only a preliminary conclusion, so there have actually been no changes yet.

Meta approached the court to block the order. However, the judges ruled that the regulator’s investigation could proceed. The final decision is expected to be published in the first half of 2022. If the Data Protection Commission actually decides that model contracts are illegal, Meta may shut down some platforms in the EU.