Facebook UK users will lose EU privacy protections in 2021. (JPI Media) Facebook will switch all United Kingdom account holders into user agreements with the firm s corporate headquarters in California, steering them clear of EU privacy laws. The current relationship with Facebook s Irish unit will end next year as the UK leaves the European Union (EU) at the end of the Brexit transition period. Facebook has said that the move will not change the privacy controls of UK users, or the services they are offered. Changes after Brexit UK users are currently governed by agreements with Facebook’s headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, but the legal relationship will change after the Brexit transition period comes to an end at the end of this year.
Facebook UK users will lose EU privacy protections in 2021. (JPI Media) Facebook will switch all United Kingdom account holders into user agreements with the firm s corporate headquarters in California, steering them clear of EU privacy laws. The current relationship with Facebook s Irish unit will end next year as the UK leaves the European Union (EU) at the end of the Brexit transition period. Facebook has said that the move will not change the privacy controls of UK users, or the services they are offered. Changes after Brexit UK users are currently governed by agreements with Facebook’s headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, but the legal relationship will change after the Brexit transition period comes to an end at the end of this year.
Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, told
IT Pro: “Moving data out of the EU makes it harder to enforce your privacy rights. It means European actions to limit the power of the tech giants will not apply to UK citizens. It means the UK ICO will need to be pushed to make the same decisions when companies break the law. And it means those tech giants can lobby for weaker UK rules to ensure they can get away with things in the UK that they cannot in the EU.
However, Facebook claims that there will be no changes to the privacy controls or the services offered to UK users.
(Pocket-lint) - Facebook will switch all UK accounts to US jurisdiction in light of the country s withdrawal from the European Union.
That means UK Facebook users will be switched to US agreements from 2021 and overseen by the social media giant s California headquarters rather than Ireland as is currently the case.
And accounts may no longer benefit from the stricter privacy laws enforced by the EU. Like other companies, Facebook has had to make changes to respond to Brexit and will be transferring legal responsibilities and obligations for UK users from Facebook Ireland to Facebook Inc, said the company to Reuters.
Facebook will be moving users in the UK into new agreements with its Californian HQ following Brexit, in a move which may have significant implications for Britons privacy.
Although the UK s privacy laws remain matched with the European Union s at the point of Brexit - and Facebook being required to comply with those laws - the move could leave room for divergence in the future.
It is not yet clear whether British users data would now be processed in the US as part of the user agreement change, something which could prompt a legal challenge due to the differences in US and UK privacy laws.