Facebook fined $1.3 billion, given 5 months to stop EU-US data flows

Meta was fined a record $1.3 billion by its lead privacy regulator in the European Union for its handling of user information. The company has been given five months to stop the transfer of users’ data to the U.S.

The fine was imposed by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) due to Meta’s continuous transfer of personal data.

The fine topped the previous €746 million record EU privacy fine by Luxembourg on Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN.O) in 2021, according to a DPC statement on Monday.

Meta said in a statement it will appeal the ruling, calling it an “unjustified and unnecessary fine”. It will also seek a stay of the orders through courts.

According to Reuters, the battle over where Facebook stores its data began ten years ago, right after Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems brought forward a legal challenge over the risk of U.S. spying on users.

The legal challenge was brought forward due to the weekly leaks of former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.