Irish regulator moves closer to ban on Facebook EU-U.S. data flows

The final Irish order would not apply to Meta’s WhatsApp subsidiary, as it has a different data controller within the group

Ireland's data privacy regulator moved a step closer to a ruling that could halt EU-U.S. data transfers by Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram when it shared an updated draft order with other EU regulators on Thursday, a spokesperson said.

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The Data Protection Commission (DPC) issued a provisional order in 2020 to block the mechanism Meta uses to transfer data on EU users to the United States, after Europe's highest court deemed the agreement allowing it invalid due to surveillance concerns.

After the block was issued the European Union and the United States announced a preliminary data transfer deal to end the limbo, and data flows have continued pending a final agreement.

However, the DPC's probe has continued in parallel, and it informed its EU counterparts of a draft of its final decision on Thursday. The spokesperson declined to comment on the specific content of the decision.

The DPC is the EU's lead regulator of Meta and many other of the world's largest technology companies, due to the location of their EU headquarters in Ireland.

Under EU privacy rules introduced in 2018, regulators around the bloc have one month to give their input before a final decision is reached. Any objections, which have regularly been lodged in such cases, could add months to the timeline.