The European Union has slapped Meta with a record $1.3 billion privacy fine and ordered it to stop transferring users' personal information to the United States by October. Meta, which had previously warned that services for its users in Europe could be cut off, vowed to appeal and ask courts to immediately put the decision on hold. The company said Monday that “there is no immediate disruption to Facebook in Europe.” The decision applies to user data like names, email addresses, messages, viewing history and other information that Meta — and other tech giants — use for targeted ads. The legal battle followed former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations of electronic surveillance by U.S. security agencies.
Are they going to keep breaking privacy regulations, and paying regular fines like it’s the price of doing business?