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September 23, 2020Facebook could withdraw from Europe if the Irish Data Protection Commissioner imposes a ban on sharing data with the United States, the Guardian reports.



The move would take its cue from the ruling of the European Court of Justice last July, which argued that there were not sufficient guarantees in the Privacy Shield agreement against espionage by US intelligence agencies regarding the private data of European citizens.



The European Court of Justice, with sentence of 16 July 2020 in case C-311/18 promoted by activist Maximiliam Schrems, had declared invalid the EU Commission execution decision 2016/1250, which established the adequacy of the Privacy Shield for transfers of personal data from the European Union to the United States (

here the details from the website of the Authority for the protection of personal data

)



And according to Cybersecurity360, "the decision is destined to have a considerable impact on the activities of the platforms online, such as social networks, for all European operators, including public administrations, as well as for any person who uses software and solutions provided by US companies to provide their services ".



The statement filed by the European social network at the Irish Commission is one of these fallout: "In the event that Facebook is forced to completely suspend the transfer of user data to the United States," said Yvonne Cunnane, Facebook's associate legal counsel in Ireland, "it is unclear how, under such circumstances, it could continue to provide Facebook and Instagram services in the EU".



However, Facebook denied that this is a threat, arguing in a statement that it is instead a simple fact.

"Facebook is not threatening to withdraw from Europe," a spokesperson said.



“Legal documents filed with the Irish High Court affirm the simple reality that Facebook and many other companies, organizations and services rely on data transfers between the EU and the US to manage their services.

A ban on safe, secure and legal international data transfers would harm the economy and hinder the growth of data-driven businesses in the EU, even as we seek a recovery from Covid-19. "