The Data Protection Commissioner’s inquiry into the validity of cross-border transfers of data by Facebook can now proceed as a result of orders made by the High Court. Mr Justice David Barniville on Thursday lifted a court-imposed stay which had halted the inquiry since last September pending the outcome of proceedings challenging the commissioner’s decision. Declan McGrath SC, for Facebook, said the court could also make consent orders for his client to pay 90 per cent of the commissioner’s costs in defending the case. Facebook will also pay the costs of Max Schrems, an Austrian lawyer and privacy and data rights activist, who was a notice party to the case. The DPC considered the data transfers were made in circumstances which fail to guarantee a level of protection to data subjects equivalent to those provided for in EU law.

Source: The Irish Times May 20, 2021 11:03 UTC