Sinn Féin spokesperson on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Louise O’Reilly TD, has said the €1.2 billion fine issued by the Irish Data Protection Commission to Facebook parent company, Meta, should be a wake-up call for the government regarding the regulation of big-tech.

Teachta O’Reilly said:

“The decision by the Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) to issue Facebook parent company Meta, with a €1.2 billion fine for breaches relating to the transfer of personal data from the European Union to the United States of America should be a wake-up call for the government regarding the regulation of big-tech.

“The fine in terms of its scale also poses questions regarding the original ruling of the DPC which did not recommend a fine.

“Today’s fine has only come about due to the strong line taken by peer European data watchdogs and an order from the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) that a fine be imposed.

“There are domestic and European laws in terms of people’s personal data and all companies, regardless of scale and size, must comply with those laws.

“This fine is not out of the blue and warnings were issued in terms of the data breaches concerned since a 2020 EU court ruling invalidated an EU–US data transfer pact.

“The allegation that people’s personal data was being spied upon by US security services once it crossed the Atlantic is even more concerning again.

“Data is very real, it is valuable, and it is an important commodity in today’s world. What is even more important is who controls personal data, who has access to it, and what it is being used for.

“This ruling should be a wake-up call for the government regarding the regulation of big-tech.

“Furthermore, the government should conduct an investigation into the use of Meta applications, and other social media apps, on government issued devices.”