Facebook May Have to Suspend Data Transfers from EU Under Proposed Irish Ruling

In the latest example of the difficulty for American businesses doing business online in the EU, the Irish data regulator proposes to stop Facebook from transferring EU data to the US. Currently, the US is deemed an "inadequate" destination for privacy purposes under EU law, and US companies must jump through several regulatory or contractual hoops to move data to servers in the US or that are accessible from the US. There used to be a negotiated framework and several approved mechanisms for such transfers, but much of the scheme was invalidated by a series of EU court cases from 2016-2020. American businesses and their EU trade partners have been dealing with the fall-out since. The US and EU have not successfully negotiated a new trade framework for the movement and protection of personal data.  

Why it Matters

Data transfer does not just affect Facebook and Google, although their businesses are the ones that generate the headlines. Thousands of US companies have suppliers, customers, or employees in the EU; technically, data such as HR files and email with them must be protected in some legal fashion or remain confined to the EU. Companies that provide service in the EU and use cloud storage which they access in the US are also vulnerable. This has an impact on remote customer service, for example. And of course, millions of users of Google Analytics are vulnerable to the increased scrutiny that service faces for the export of EU data to the US to assess website performance.