The social networking platform, Facebook has confirmed Reuters on Tuesday to shift responsibilities for all the users outside US, Canada and the EU to its main offices in California from currently present international HQ in Ireland. This move comes along the affirmation from the company that “we apply the same privacy protections everywhere, regardless of whether your agreement is with Facebook Inc or Facebook Ireland”.
However, this change comes into act when the EU aimed to protect user privacy through the plan of introducing new policy. According to the new regulation from EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDRP), companies that break user privacy will be liable to a fine of 4 % of their annual profits. This means that Facebook has to pay an amount around $1.6 billion if they break the law.
In a statement, the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that “We have been clear that we are offering everyone who uses Facebook the same privacy protections, controls and settings, no matter where they live. These updates do not change that.” Yet, he did not clear the point that the US users would get the same protection as those in the EU.
According to the new EU laws, Facebook has to take permission from users before using their information for advertising purposes, but there will be no option to reject. Therefore, the social media platform will continue to use a user’s data based on their preference to show targeted ads and access to certain content will only be attainable if the user accept these terms via “permission screens”. These regulations will take effect next month.
