As per the recent reports, one of the Irish regulators has received the green light from the High Court pertaining to Facebook. The reports suggest that the High Court has passed the ruling in favor of the Irish regulator on Friday, May 14.
After the approval from the High Court, the Irish regulator now has the approval of carrying out an investigation on Facebook. The sources have revealed that the probe would be against the data transactions that are being carried out by Facebook.
Many analysts and observers are speculating that the probe being launched by the Irish regulator has the potential of causing a lot of harm to Facebook. The sources reveal that the probe has the potential of banning the flow of data for Facebook between the United States and the European Union.
The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) of Ireland reportedly launched the probe on Facebook back in August of 2020. While launching the probe, the DPC criticized the way in which Facebook has been handling the data of European citizens.
The DPC alleged that the way Facebook has been transferring data of the European citizens to the United States is unethical. This is something that Facebook must not practice, as it is a breach of the European Commission’s privacy policy.
On the other hand, Facebook protested against the allegations claiming that Facebook is not transferring any data in breach of the EC’s privacy act.
Facebook revealed that the usage and transfer of the user data are to utilize the information to target the users as per their needs. The information gathered helps Facebook in projecting advertisements to the users based on their likenesses and preferences.
However, the High Court of Ireland has rejected the protest and the challenge Facebook had submitted. The sources confirm *that the High Court rejected the decision on Friday, May 14, and permitted the DPC to launch a probe.+*
While at the hearing in the Irish court, the representatives from Facebook Ireland (FBI) requested grants for the reliefs. On top of that, Facebook Ireland (FBI) presented its reasoning for the usage of the European user data.
However, the Irish court completely rejected the claims as well as the relief requested by Facebook Ireland (FBI) representatives.
The sources have confirmed that the person who convinced the data regulator in Ireland to launch an investigation on Facebook was Max Schrems. Max Schrems is reportedly an activist for privacy who is from Austria.
According to Schrems, if the decision went in the favor of the Irish regulator, then Facebook will have no choice but to halt its data transfers from Europe to the United State. Following the passing of the judgment, it is expected that Facebook would have to cease its data transfer services in Europe.