Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) has fined Meta Platforms, the tech giant previously known as Facebook, a record €1.2 billion. Meta’s EU fine comes as punishment for the way the company has handled European data transferred to the US.
The main issue under EU GDPR law is that European user data could be accessed in the US due to its weaker data protection laws – by the US government, for example. This adds to a couple of other hefty fines for the company in the last few years.
Meta’s fortunes haven’t exactly been favourable of late, but it’s hard to imagine this fine really touches the sides of such a massive company. Still, following the announcement of over 20,000 layoffs since November, its recent climbdown from its open embrace of the metaverse, and a late leap into the AI party, Meta is clearly wounded right now, if only slightly.
Just look at the last video the company shared on YouTube, in October 2021, as a sign they’ve not been up to much publicly…
Anyway, that’s a quick rundown of Meta’s EU fine. For more tech stuff, check out our guides to the best iPads and best rugged phones so you know where to spend your money.
