EU court leaves Facebook more exposed to privacy challenges

Facebook is subject to EU privacy challenges from watchdogs in any of the bloc’s member states, not just its lead regulator in Ireland, the bloc’s top court ruled Tuesday, in a ruling that has implications for other big tech companies.

For Facebook, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, it is Ireland’s Data Protection Commission.

However, the European Union’s Court of Justice ruled that “under certain conditions,” a national watchdog has the power to take a company to court over a GDPR violation even if it’s not the lead regulator.

The ruling is in line with a preliminary opinion from a court adviser and, according to experts, potentially paves the way for a fresh onslaught of privacy cases across the EU’s 27 member nations.