Facebook, Big Tech Face EU Blow in National Data Watchdogs Ruling
Facebook and other Silicon Valley giants could face more scrutiny and sanctions in the European Union after the bloc’s top court backed national privacy watchdogs to pursue them, even when they are not their lead regulators.
Consumer lobbying group BEUC welcomed Tuesday’s ruling by the EU Court of Justice (CJEU), which backed the right of national agencies to act, citing enforcement bottlenecks.
Along with Google, Twitter, and Apple, Facebook has its EU headquarters in Ireland, putting it under the oversight of the Irish data protection regulator under privacy rules known as GDPR, which allow for fines of up to 4 percent of a company’s global turnover for breaches.
The CJEU got involved after a Belgian court sought guidance on Facebook’s challenge to the territorial competence of the Belgian data watchdog, which was trying to stop it from tracking users in Belgium through cookies stored in the company’s social plug-ins, regardless of whether they have an account or not.
“Most Big Tech companies are based in Ireland, and it should not be up to that country’s authority alone to protect 500 million consumers in the EU, especially if it does not rise to the challenge,” BEUC Director General Monique Goyens said.
Several national watchdogs in the 27-member EU have long complained about their Irish counterpart, saying that it takes too long to decide on cases. Ireland has dismissed this, saying it has to be extra meticulous in dealing with powerful and well-funded tech giants.
