Facebook parent Meta hit with record fine for transferring European user data to U.S.

The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine on May 22 and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic by October

The European Union slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine on May 22 and ordered it to stop transferring user data across the Atlantic by October, the latest salvo in a decade long case sparked by U.S. cybersnooping fears.

The penalty fine of €1.2 billion euros from Ireland's Data Protection Commission is the biggest since the EU's strict data privacy regime took effect five years ago, surpassing Amazon's €746 million euro penalty in 2021 for data protection violations.

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The Irish watchdog is Meta's lead privacy regulator in the 27-nation bloc because the Silicon Valley tech giant's European headquarters is based in Dublin.

Meta, which had previously warned that services for its users in Europe could be cut off, vowed to appeal and ask courts to immediately put the decision on hold.

“There is no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe,” the company said.