Facebook loses bid to block European Union court's privacy decision

Irish court OKs inquiry that could lead to a ban on Facebook's data transfers from the European Union to the US

Ireland’s data regulator can proceed with an inquiry that could lead to a ban on Facebook’s data transfers from the European Union to the United States, the country's High Court ruled on Friday.

Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) launched an inquiry in August and issued a provisional order that the mechanism Facebook uses to transfer EU user data to the United States "cannot in practice be used".

Facebook had challenged both the inquiry and the Preliminary Draft Decision (PDD), saying they threatened "devastating" and "irreversible" consequences for its business, which relies on processing user data to serve targeted online ads.

The High Court