Complaints against Irish DPA's lack of action against Facebook

By EDRi · May 22, 2013

This article is also available in:
Deutsch: [Beschwerden über die Untätigkeit der irischen Datenschutzbehörde in Sachen Facebook | https://www.unwatched.org/EDRigram_11.10_Beschwerden_ueber_die_Untaetigkeit_der_irischen_Datenschutzbehoerde_in_Sachen_Facebook?pk_campaign=edri&pk_kwd=20130530]

Ireland’s data protection authority, ODPC, seems to be deaf to citizens’
complaints against Facebook. According to the non-profit association
“Europe versus Facebook”, during the last two years, there have been
about 1 000 complaints against Facebook which have not actually been
processed by the Irish Data Protection Authority.

The association has made 22 complaints for which it has received only
“non-binding reports” with shallow useless text. There has been no
critical investigation and no in depth review of Facebook’s submissions.
The authority responds to complaints only with standardized e-mails and
apparently, ignores entirely any requests for formal decisions.

In a case taken against Facebook, the “europe-v-facebook.org” group has
also complained that it has been refused access to files and evidence.

Therefore five MEPs of several political groups submitted on 25 April
2013 a series of parliamentary questions to the European Commission in
the matter. The questions included the following:

1. How many complaints has the Commission received under file number
CHAP (2012) 01144? How have these complaints been followed up and dealt
with in the Commission?

2. How does the Commission monitor the uniform transposition of the data
protection provisions under Directive 95/46/EC in the Republic of
Ireland and in the other Member States?

3. Does the Commission take the view that the aforementioned data
protection provisions are transposed to the same extent in the various
Member States?

4. What are the consequences of the proposed data protection package for
the work and budget of the data protection authorities?

Facebook: EU Parliamentarians raise questions about situation around
Irish ODPC (10.05.2013)
http://www.europe-v-facebook.org/EN/en.html

Press Release – EU Parliamentarians get involved into Fight between
Students and Facebook.
EU Commission shall look into situation at Irish Data Protection
Authority (10.05.2013)
http://www.europe-v-facebook.org/pa_en_10_5_.pdf

Parliamentary questions – Enforcement of European data protection
standards in the Member States (25.04.2013)
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-%2f%2fEP%2f%2fTEXT%2bWQ%2bE-2013-004630%2b0%2bDOC%2bXML%2bV0%2f%2fEN&language=EN