Facebook faces trouble in Europe—and Meta wants you to know about it. Every three months since June 2018, the company has used its financial results to warn that it could be forced to stop running Facebook and Instagram across the continent—potentially pulling its apps from millions of people and thousands of businesses—if it can't send data between the EU and the US.
Whether Meta's bluffing will become clear soon enough.
Data regulators are on the verge of making a historic ruling in a years-long case, and they are expected to say Facebook's data transfers across the Atlantic should be blocked. For years, Meta has fought against European privacy activists over how data is sent to the US, with courts ruling multipletimes that European data isn't properly protected and can potentially be snooped on by the NSA and other US intelligence agencies.
While the case focuses on Meta, it has widespread ramifications, potentially impacting thousands of businesses across Europe that rely upon the services of Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and more. At the same time, US and European negotiators are scrambling to finalize a long-awaited new data-sharing deal that will limit what information US intelligence agencies can get their hands on. If negotiators can't get it right, people's privacy will remain at risk and billions of dollars of trade will be put in jeopardy.
[...] "I think the most pragmatic solution would be for them to create the European infrastructure, like Google or Amazon, which have quite a few data centers here," Pandit says, adding that Meta could also introduce more encryption to how it stores data and maximize how much it keeps in the EU. All these measures would be costly, though. Jack Gilbert, director and associate general counsel at Meta, says that the issue "is in the process of being resolved." Facebook did not respond specifically to questions about its plan to respond to the Irish decision.
[...] While Meta is the focus of the most high-profile complaint, it isn't the only company impacted by a lack of clarity on how companies in Europe can send data to the US. "The data transfer issue is not Meta-specific," David Wehner, Meta's chief strategy officer, said in a July earnings call. "It relates to how in general data is transferred for all US and EU companies back and forth to the US."
(Score: 2, Insightful) by krokodilerian on Thursday August 11 2022, @05:00AM (2 children)
As much as I'd love for FB to stop working around here, being the main source of bullshit on the Internet, it's going to cost them a lot more than just building infrastructure in Europe. They'd like not to have the expense, but in the end would have to do it.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Thursday August 11 2022, @05:11AM
Meta's not exactly poor. If they want to build a business around scooping up everyone's data, then they need to pay the price of looking after that data where it is legally required.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Thexalon on Thursday August 11 2022, @10:42AM
Hang on a second: The main source of bullshit on the Internet is the same as it has always been since at least back in the days of Usenet being the largest-scale public forum: People who are some combination of ignorant, getting paid to lie, or have an axe to grind. Facebook is just one of the tools they use to spread it about (along with Twitter, 4chan and its relatives, major news networks, and a whole lot of other places).
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bradley13 on Thursday August 11 2022, @05:18AM (2 children)
This has been coming a long time - I don't understand why the final ruling has taken so long.
As for Meta's threats, they are pretty stupid. Why do they think the regulators care, if they shut down their services?
If they are too stupid to have plans in place to run on purely European infrastructure, they deserve whatever happens to them.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 11 2022, @02:36PM (1 child)
Perhaps their threats are to see if the EU lawmakers would think "OMG! I can't lose my FB!"
(Score: 2) by The Vocal Minority on Friday August 12 2022, @05:43AM
I'm sure it will work about as well as it did against the Australian government.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Barenflimski on Thursday August 11 2022, @06:41AM (1 child)
I hope to god that for you Europeans sake, and hopefully the beginning of an all out assault on Facebook for the rest of the world, that the EU bans Facebook.
....Dear God. Save us from Marky Z and his bastions of corporate and political instigators, infringing on the right to think for billions of your children. He has narrowed the playing field for so many humans on earth that many that don't understand the evil he and his minions brings. God, we know you will do best for all Europeans. In Jesus name we pray. A-Men.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday August 11 2022, @01:23PM
I mean, you might not be wrong. Though, perhaps, you've not taken it far enough.
The problem, isn't Facebook per se. It's very nearly all social media. At least the big ones, for sure. Cyber bullying, cyber stalking, and pedophiles hunting kids online. That's, before we get to just what the "good" aspects of Facebook / social media may be doing.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Thursday August 11 2022, @07:23AM (4 children)
While it's good that Facebook gets a slap on the wrist from Europe, the European Union has an agreement with the USA to send them all collected traveler info as "Passenger Name Records" [europa.eu]. I don't think the USA actually needs all that Facebook data.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday August 11 2022, @07:57AM (3 children)
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by maxwell demon on Thursday August 11 2022, @08:33AM
Moreover, Facebook is known to collect shadow profiles for people who are not on Facebook. [howtogeek.com] I strongly doubt that there are non-flyer shadow profiles.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by inertnet on Thursday August 11 2022, @08:35AM (1 child)
Sure, but from an American standpoint, those that are about to travel to the USA are far more interesting than the European masses. The government will use Facebook information, and anything else to complement traveler's information though. Social media probably are good sources for discovering and monitoring anti-government groups as well.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by janrinok on Thursday August 11 2022, @08:45AM
If a European is travelling to the USA he must assume that they will want - and obtain - any data that they can get. If somebody is daft enough to use Facebook then likewise.
But if Facebook are unable to transfer data to the US (which I think they will find a way to do no matter what laws the EU pass) then it would reduce the amount of data that the US can collect. To me, this is a good thing.
[nostyle RIP 06 May 2025]
(Score: 2) by stormreaver on Thursday August 11 2022, @12:54PM (2 children)
What's to stop Facebook from pulling out of Europe and hosting all their servers where European law doesn't matter, such as the U.S? When European users then visit Facebook, it will be across the Internet. Their data is then already on U.S. servers.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by HiThere on Thursday August 11 2022, @01:13PM
Nothing. That's what they're claiming they're going to do. But it means pulling their business out of Europe, which means some competitors will be able to grow.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ledow on Friday August 12 2022, @12:34PM
Nothing.
Except then they will likely be denied any kind of "business" operation in those countries, up to and including processing credit card data.
If you process EU credit card data, you're effectively operating in the EU, so you're subject to EU law with respect to that business.
If you want to move the US entirely. Fine. But the EU are actually able to block transactions from the EU to you, especially if you don't honour basic consumer law and data protection law with regards to those transactions.
That means not only individuals and their data, but also the bank transfers from the EU advertisers, etc.
And when that happens - and you lose 50% of your revenue overnight, and an entire continent of governments start to advise their citizens explicitly not to use your services, your shareholders may well have something to say about that.
(Score: 2) by ledow on Friday August 12 2022, @12:31PM
I'm far more interested in why they think my data ever needs to go anywhere near the US, at all, ever, at any point, for any reason.
Because as the owner and creator of that data, I cannot think of a reason instance I would want that.
GDPR etc. is quite clear. You're not handling my data in a legal way, "Meta", Facebook, Whatsapp, et al. I've filed complaints about exactly that. You don't seem to care and that's what gets you into lawsuits.