Facebook feared ‘devastating consequences’ from Irish data ruling

DUBLIN (Reuters) – A preliminary ruling by Ireland’s data regulator in August to halt the transatlantic transfer of Facebook (NASDAQ:) customer data threatened “devastating” and “irreversible” consequences to the U.S. company’s business, a lawyer representing the firm said.

In a letter sent to Facebook, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said it was “proposing that data transfers be suspended,” Paul Sreenan told Ireland’s High Court as part of a legal challenge against the regulator’s probe.

“We have made the point in our affidavit, that this would have devastating consequences for the plaintiff’s business,” Sreenan told the court, before describing the potential damage as “irreversible.”