Meta Regulating Meta: Critic Blasts Ireland's DPC Appointment
Ireland tapped Niamh Sweeney, a former Meta executive, as a commissioner on the country’s Data Protection Commission. The appointment brought quick reaction from critics who said Ireland had bowed to pressure from U.S. big tech to the detriment of GDPR protections.
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Named to the position Wednesday, Sweeney spent nearly four years at Facebook as its head of public policy in Dublin, from 2015, according to her LinkedIn profile. In April 2019, she had the same position at WhatsApp, covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa. For the past two years, Sweeney has been a consultant.
Ireland’s DPC is also the EU’s lead privacy regulator for big tech firms in Europe such as Google, Microsoft and Meta. Sweeney will join next month on a five-year term.
“The DPC is anticipating an increased workload arising from the impact of the EU’s new digital Acts such as the Digital Markets Act, Data Act, and Digital Services Act on data protection matters," said Jim O'Callaghan, Ireland's minister for justice, home affairs and migration. He added that Sweeney, along with fellow commissioners Des Hogan and Dale Sunderland, "will now lead and manage this key regulatory body.”
Privacy advocate Noyb blasted the appointment Wednesday, declaring, “Meta now regulates itself.” The only silver lining is that the DPC has finally become “honest” in that it's openly bowing to U.S. pressure, Noyb added. For decades, the Irish government denied being too close to U.S. Big Tech. "With this appointment, all masks seem to be off.”
Noyb’s chief Max Schrems said, "For 20 years, Ireland did not actually enforce EU law, but at least they had enough shame to undermine enforcement secretly." He added, "Now, Ireland is officially kissing US Big Tech's backside on the global stage. At least this brings some honesty to the situation we've witnessed over the last 15 years."
In a statement Wednesday, the DPC said it looks "forward to welcoming Ms. Sweeney and to working with her as the DPC continues to uphold the EU’s fundamental right to data protection.”