GS Analyst: Daily Current Affairs

Facebook’s parent company Meta has been slapped with two sets of fines totalling €390 million as the Irish privacy regulator concluded that the company’s advertising and data handling practices were in breach of the EU’s overarching privacy law.

What is the issue?

• The EU authorities had concluded that the legal permission that Meta sought from users to collect their data for personalised advertising as part of its lengthy terms-of-service agreement essentially forced them to accept personalised ads, in violation of the GDPR.
• The Meta was not entitled to simply rely on contracts as a legal basis for processing user data for targeted advertisements.

Why did the ruling come from the Irish regulator?

• As per the GDPR, cross-border cases are to be handled by the data protection authority in the country where the company is based, with the result that the Irish DPC is the lead regulatory authority for Meta and a number of other US tech majors that have their headquarters in Ireland.

Why is the ruling significant?

• The outcome of the case buttresses the overarching theme of the EU’s landmark legislation:
  • the right of the individual over her data
  • the need for a person to give explicit consent before their data can be processed