Yes, it wasn't clear initially which fine you were writing about. But, if the fine was referring to activity that occurred after the GDPR entered into force, it is inaccurate to say that it was retroactive - it was simply that the Irish regulator misunderstood or misenforced the law according to the courts, but for a company as sophisticated as Meta, that shouldn't be an excuse. They have far more legal expertise on staff than the Irish DPA.
And, no, nobody is forcing Meta to offer personalized social networking to users in the EU. Meta is free to decline to do so. The EU is simply forcing them to decouple consent to such a service from consent to receive personalized ads. It is a valid social policy choice to want to differentiate those processing purposes, even if Meta doesn't like it. I do.
To the extent that the EU is not acting like a fair player here, it is by disrespecting the democratic will of the EU population as expressed through their EU representatives by inadequately enforcing the GDPR.
I think it's good that the regulatory capture and the intentional Irish government policy of underfunding which currently applies to the Irish DPA is not as successfully a "get out of jail free card" for non-compliance in the EU as equivalent circumstances are in the US. Many thanks to noyb.eu for filing complaints and to the EU courts and the European Data Protection Board for taking them seriously.
And, no, nobody is forcing Meta to offer personalized social networking to users in the EU. Meta is free to decline to do so. The EU is simply forcing them to decouple consent to such a service from consent to receive personalized ads. It is a valid social policy choice to want to differentiate those processing purposes, even if Meta doesn't like it. I do.
To the extent that the EU is not acting like a fair player here, it is by disrespecting the democratic will of the EU population as expressed through their EU representatives by inadequately enforcing the GDPR.
I think it's good that the regulatory capture and the intentional Irish government policy of underfunding which currently applies to the Irish DPA is not as successfully a "get out of jail free card" for non-compliance in the EU as equivalent circumstances are in the US. Many thanks to noyb.eu for filing complaints and to the EU courts and the European Data Protection Board for taking them seriously.