In a seminal moment for international data transfers, the EU has fined Meta a record €1.2B for GDPR violations.In a seminal moment for international data transfers, the EU has fined Meta a record €1.2B for GDPR violations.
In a seminal moment for international data flows, the EU has fined Meta a record-breaking €1.2bn for privacy violations.
The penalty is the largest ever for a violation of GDPR, which was introduced to protect personal information. According to EU regulators, Meta broke the rules by transferring user data from the bloc to the US for processing.
The Facebook owner made these transfers on the basis of standard contractual clauses (SCCs), which govern the flow of personal data. But an EU investigation determined that SCCs don’t provide enough protection from US surveillance.
Andrea Jelinek, chair of the European Data Protection Board, called the infringement “very serious” because the transfers were systematic, repetitive, and continuous.
“Facebook has millions of users in Europe, so the volume of personal data transferred is massive,” she said. “The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organisations that serious infringements have far-reaching consequences.
