Meta receives a record US$1.3 billion fine in the European Union for data privacy violation

London () — European Union regulators have fined technology company Meta a record 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) for transferring the personal data of Facebook users from the European Union to servers in the United States.

The European Data Protection Board announced the fine in a statement on Monday, saying the decision came after an investigation into Facebook by the Irish Data Protection Commission, the main regulator that oversees Meta’s operations in Europe.

The fine is the largest ever imposed under Europe’s signature data privacy law, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. Meta was also ordered to stop processing personal data of European users in the United States within six months.

Meta’s breach is “very serious as it deals with transfers that are systematic, repetitive and continuous,” said Andrea Jelinek, president of the European Data Protection Board.

“Facebook has millions of users in Europe, so the volume of personal data transferred is enormous. The unprecedented fine is a strong signal to organizations that serious violations have far-reaching consequences,” he added.

Facebook is still available in Europe

Meta, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, said it would appeal the ruling, including the fine. There would be no immediate shutdown of Facebook in Europe, she added.

The company said the root of the problem stemmed from a “conflict of law” between US rules on data access and the privacy rights of Europeans. EU and US lawmakers were on a “clear path” to resolve this dispute under a new transatlantic Data Privacy Framework.

The European Data Protection Board “chose to ignore the clear progress lawmakers are making to resolve this underlying issue,” Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, and Jennifer Newstead, the company’s chief legal officer, said in a statement.

“This decision is flawed, unjustified, and sets a dangerous precedent for the countless other companies that transfer data between the EU and the US,” they added.

“The ability to transfer data across borders is critical to the functioning of the global open Internet. Thousands of businesses and other organizations rely on the ability to transfer data between the EU and the US to operate and provide services that the people use every day.