The Irish data regulator may resume its investigation into data flows between the European Union and the United States from Facebook.
An attempt by the tech company to block the investigation was rejected by the Irish Supreme Court on Friday.
Irish data watchdog DPC had previously started investigations into the social media company for potential violations of privacy rules. Facebook may face a large fine if the rules are broken.
According to the Irish court, no valid reasons have been put forward by Facebook to contest the regulator’s decision. According to the judge, there was also nothing wrong with the working method of the supervisor.
After the verdict, a provisional order from the DPC followed. Facebook was told that it could no longer use standard contractual clauses to comply with privacy rules when sending data to the US.
The Irish regulator is the main privacy authority for Facebook and many other US tech giants with their European base in Ireland, such as Apple and Google. That means that the final decision can also set the course for data transfers for many other companies under Irish supervision.