Facebook sues Irish privacy watchdog over data-transfer spat

Facebook Inc. sued the Irish data protection watchdog in a bid to stop a proposed order it warns could curb transfers of vast amounts of commercial data from the European Union to the U.S. by thousands of companies.

The social network giant said it sought a judicial review of the Irish Data Protection Commission’s preliminary view that it may have to halt trans-Atlantic data transfers using the most commonly used EU tool still available to firms.

“A lack of safe, secure and legal international data transfers would have damaging consequences for the European economy,” Facebook said in a statement Friday. “We urge regulators to adopt a pragmatic and proportionate approach until a sustainable long-term solution can be reached.”