Meta’s decision to step out of Europe might just be beginning of many upcoming changes in the world of technology. One of Europe’s top privacy watchdogs may restrict transatlantic data flows. This will mean huge losses for the tech giants.
The Irish data protection authority is yet to review the legality of Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC) used by Meta, Alphabet Inc.’s Google and others. As part of this move, the authority will assess the tech giants’ legal transfer of user data to the U.S.
As Meta and other companies rely on shipping huge amounts of commercial data across the Atlantic, this decision will significantly affect the overall functioning of tech giants.
Earlier, the Irish authority had raised questions about the legality of SCC’s as they didn’t protect the European citizens from eyeing over the US agencies.
Due to the serious impact of this move, Meta warned in its latest annual report that it will “likely be unable” to offer services including Facebook and Instagram in the EU if it’s not able to use SCCs.
Hereafter, it will not be easy to store data in Europe for any service based on customer interactions across the world, from gaming to video streaming. This is because European data rules follow a person’s information.
Notably, the functioning of Google and Meta rely upon collecting user’s data to assess their interests and serve them relevant ads. As Europe has already imposed strict restrictions upon company’s using a person’s information, the tech giants are facing major losses. A ban on SCC’s will imply more expense.
As mentioned by a Meta spokesperson to a leading international daily, “Ongoing uncertainty over data transfers is impacting a large number of businesses and organizations in Europe and in the U.S.”
“The simple reality is that we all rely on data transfers to operate global services. We need a long-term solution to EU-U.S. data transfers to keep people and economies connected and protect transatlantic trade,” they added.
In 2020, the EU’s highest court toppled the ‘Privacy Shield’ claiming that citizen’s data was under US’ surveillance.
According to a technology and data protection lawyer at CMS DeBacker in Brussels, many companies can’t fully comply with the 2020 EU court ruling. “So, often it is a matter of mitigating your data compliance risks rather than trying to be 100% compliant”, he added.
The Irish authority’s decision could turn around the whole situation or the tech industry might soon be pushed into chaos.
