All EU Countries Can Tackle Facebook On Privacy: Court

EU court ruled against Facebook in a case dating back to 2015, in which a Belgian court took up a data-protection issue against the US internet giant.

Any country in the EU can press Facebook and other online companies on the bloc's data privacy rules, not just the one where the firm is registered, Europe's top court ruled on Tuesday. Such legal action, however, can only happen "under certain conditions" the European Court of Justice (ECJ) said, under a general "one-stop shop" principle which gives prime responsibility in such matters to data supervisory authorities in the registering member state. The ruling shot down a challenge from Facebook in a case dating back to 2015, in which a Belgian court took up a data-protection issue against the US internet giant. Facebook had argued the case should only be decided in Ireland, where its EU operations are based.