Step for Step: “Complaint against the Irish Authority in Brussels”
Unfortunately we had to experience that the Irish authority does not process complaints brought before it concerning access requests at Facebook. Users are turned down using a standard reply (see this response by the authority). Worldwide more than 40,000 Facebook users are currently waiting for a copy of all their data. We were very disappointed that the the first report by the Irish DPC asks Facebook to only give access to only about 40 of about 100 data categories they hold about every user. The additional data will only be displayed all over facebook.com but will not be delivered to the user in the raw format. This means the user has to hunt all over the page to get access to this very limited amount of personal data.
Despite the legal obligation to deliver all data within 40 days, Facebook got an exemption and did not deliver the relevant data. There was no legal basis for this “special treatment”, all this is happening outside of the legal framework. In addition there will be no penalties or consequences for Facebook for not sticking to the law, despite the fact that EU legislation calls for sufficient sanctions. Today Facebook is forwarding user to a “download tool” that does only deliver a fraction of the data. The Irish DPC has not taken any further action, despite the fact that this tool is not giving users all data and is often times not even fully functional.
We are very much interested in a constructive and effective proceeding before the Irish DPC and have therefore tried to avoid any confrontation. However, following many e-mails by users that did not receive any decision by the Irish DPC we have offered the following option to file a complaint at the European Commission, against the Republic of Ireland for non-enforcement of EU law. This is a purely political process, but the large number of complaints against Ireland will raise the political pressure on them.
How to file a complaint.
1. Have you already made a complaint at the Irish Data Protection Commission? You can only file a complaint with the European Commission if you have previously sent a complaint to the Irish authority. If you have not yet sent a complaint to the Irish authority you may want to do so now. Here is how you file a complaint with the Irish authority.
2. Send the form to the European Commission The complaint to the European Commission can be done in any form. You can sent the form via regular mail or e-mail!
A. Standard Forms We have prepared a standard form to make the complaints as easy as possible for you to fill out:
B. Attach a copy of the response by the Irish authority You can print, attach the response of the Irish authority to your complaint. You can also just copy/paste it into your e-mail.
C. Addresses You can send the complaint via regular mail (address on the form) or you can send it via e-mail to SG-PLAINTES@ec.europa.eu (attach the form and the answer by the Irish authority).
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