Would Meta Really Shut Down Facebook And Instagram In The EU Over Data Transfer Rules?
from the this-could-get-interesting dept
Just a few weeks back we talked about how the US’s unwillingness to fix the way the NSA collects internet data could basically mean that most of the big US internet services cannot work in the EU. That article was about Google, and it goes through the background and history of the various US/EU privacy data sharing agreements, and how each one has been tossed out by EU courts in large part because of the NSA surveillance techniques brought to light by Edward Snowden. But much less attention has been paid to what this all means at a practical level.
The latest, though, is that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is making noises about how similar rulings regarding its services might mean that the company couldn’t offer either of those popular social media apps in the EU. I think this is unlikely how things will actually play out for a variety of reasons, but it is still worth watching closely.
While Facebook has pulled out the nuclear option like this once before in Australia, that was only on a small segment (and not an important one). If anything, this all seems like posturing by Meta to try to highlight how absurd some of the setup of the EU data protection regime is (even as EU policymakers whine that Facebook hasn’t been punished enough).
But, once again, the underlying issue here is only partially the setup of the GDPR. The real issue is the way the NSA surveillance works — and despite the many, many, many times people have pointed this out, the US has done basically nothing to fix all of that. Instead, it’s leaving US internet companies out to dry, and the end result might be a system that makes it effectively impossible for them to actually operate in the EU.
Of course, the US and the EU announced new data sharing rules recently, and, while it still seems likely that (years from now) these will also be struck down, it might give the kind of temporary reprieve that means that Facebook and Instagram remain accessible in the EU, and everyone just kicks the can down the road, rather than solving the underlying NSA problem.
Filed Under: data privacy, data protection, data transfers, eu, gdpr, nsa, privacy shield
Companies: facebook, instagram, meta
Comments on “Would Meta Really Shut Down Facebook And Instagram In The EU Over Data Transfer Rules?”
I wish they’d do that in the US. Get my relatives off the platform finally.
Re: Instagram
I agree. So many people in the USA still buy 100 Instagram views from this website to become famous on the platform. Users want to grow into IG bloggers. We all are so loyal to Insta I believe it should pay respect to our data. Making a lot of views on Instagram without ads is confirmed. The main thing is to create quality content and constantly attract traffic to your page. Be sure to combine all of the listed methods. Do not abuse hashtags. Learn to communicate with your audience. Take aesthetic pictures. Generate genuine interest in your publications. Use appropriate tags. Define your personal contact. Post your photos at a specific time. We learned all this. Why cannot they solve these GDPR challenges?
It won’t make it impossible for them to run their business in the EU. It just makes the what they are selling (data on their users) less interesting to buyers, reducing the sell price. Having to make different apps or another way to differentiate if the user is a citizen of the EU also hikes costs. Just like having to warehouse different sets of user data in multiple places.
Similarly increasing costs (or reducing the sell price) are the limitations placed on what can be done with the data in the EU. This is also one reason (the other main reason cost of relocation) why no one is even contemplating reversing the data flow so it goes US -> EU.
Re:
Entire article: *whooosh*
Bluffs only work if they're believable
Were I an EU regulator/politician it would be nearly impossible not to laugh in the face of whatever person from Meta was threatening that the company would pull those services from the EU, as everyone knows that’s an empty threat at best.
We can only hope.
Fun fact: more than 75% of facebook “users” are now either accounts that haven’t been updated in years, spam accounts or bots.
This is why Facebook is in the process of pivoting AWAY from its dying business to the “metaverse”
Re:
Have a citation for that?
Or is this one of those “83% of all percentage quotes are made up on the spot”?
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Citation needed.
Before, I had no problems with Instagram. No bugs or anything. But when I went to try to add another account, instagram refused to take me to the sign up page. https://downloader2x.com/en/