FILE PHOTO: The Facebook logo is displayed on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken December 2, 2019. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Illustration
DUBLIN — Ireland’s High Court on Friday rejected Facebook’s bid to block an investigation that could potentially stop data transfers from the European Union to the United States.
“I refuse all of the reliefs sought by (Facebook Ireland) and dismiss the claims made by it in the proceedings,” read a statement from High Court judge David Barniville, dismissing its challenge against the Data Protection Commissioner’s (DPC) decision to hold a probe.
Facebook’s European headquarters in the Irish capital, Dublin, and the DPC acts as the firm’s lead regulator in the EU.
The US tech titan was not immediately available for comment when approached by AFP about Friday’s news.
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The Irish regulator launched its inquiry last summer after a top EU court decision over Facebook invalidated a key online data arrangement between Europe and the US.
“The DPC decided to commence an ‘own volition’ inquiry … to consider whether the actions of Facebook Ireland Ltd in making transfers of personal data relating to individuals in the European Union/European Economic Area are lawful, and whether any corrective power should be exercised by the DPC in that regard,” the court statement noted.
