This Monday, the European Union hit Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine and ordered the company to stop transferring user data to the United States by October.
The massive penalty of 1.2 billion euros is the biggest since the EU’s strict data privacy regime went into effect a few years ago. In addition to being ordered to bring its data transfers into compliance with European privacy law, the major company was given a total of five months to stop transferring EU users’ data to the United States and six months to stop storing European citizens’ personal data in the U.S. that had previously been transferred in violation of EU privacy regulations, the Financial Times newspaper notes.
Despite this, the tech giant said it would appeal the ruling and even argued there are conflicts when it comes to the U.S. and European privacy regulations. “Without the ability to transfer data across borders, the internet risks being carved up into national and regional silos, restricting the global economy and leaving citizens in different countries unable to access many of the shared services we have come to rely on,” Meta said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Andrea Jelinek, chair of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), said Meta’s infringement explained that these alleged actions by Meta are “very serious since it concerns transfers that are systematic, repetitive and continuous.” Jelinek continued, “Facebook has millions of users in Europe, so the volume of personal data transferred is massive. The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organizations that serious infringements have far-reaching consequences.”
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This latest news about meta come days after it announced that it’s going to start laying off employees next week in its latest round of mass cuts.
Meta president of global affairs Nick Clegg during the company meeting, which Vox obtained a recording of, “The third wave is going to happen next week. That affects everybody in the biz teams, including in my orgs. It’s just a time of great anxiety and uncertainty. … I wish I could have some easy way of providing solace or comfort. It is uncertain. And actually it’s really increased my admiration for the way that everyone — notwithstanding that uncertainty — you’re just displaying such resilience and professionalism.”
While company executives did not confirm the exact number of layoffs this round, Zuckerberg said back in March that the company planned to eliminate 10,000 positions by the end of May, after already cutting 11,000 in November.
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