Facing down Facebook: DPC takes on the social media behemoth

Claims and counterclaims flew in the High Court last week about the Data Protection Commission’s recommendation in August that the online giant’s data transfers to the US should be suspended

Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Facebook: firm is challenging the DPC’s recommendation that data transfers to the US be suspended Picture: PA

On August 28, a document arrived in Facebook’s Dublin headquarters which has the potential to fundamentally alter Europe’s relationship with the US tech industry.

Facebook claimed in court last week that it came “like a bolt from the blue” and could cause “devastating” and “irretrievable damage” to the social media giant.

The correspondence from Helen Dixon, the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), was the culmination of seven years of legal cases which stemmed from Edward ...