Facebook loses court fight over halting EU-US data transfers

Facebook lost a legal battle Friday with Ireland’s data privacy watchdog over a European Union privacy decision that could result in the social network being forced to stop transferring data to the U.S.

The Irish High Court rejected Facebook’s bid to block a draft decision by the country’s Data Protection Commission to inquire into, and order the suspension of, the company’s data flows between the European Union and the U.S.

Judge David Barniville wrote in his judgement that he concluded Facebook “must fail on those grounds of challenge and that it is, therefore, not entitled to any of the reliefs claimed in the proceedings.”