Court allows Irish regulator to proceed with inquiry into Facebook data flows

Ireland's High Court on Friday rejected a Facebook bid to block an inquiry by the Irish data regulator that could halt Facebook's data flows from the European Union to the United States.

"For the reasons set out in this judgment, I refuse all of the reliefs sought by FBI (Facebook Ireland) and dismiss the claims made by it in the proceedings," the court said in a judgement.

"FBI has not established any basis for impugning the DPC's (Data Protection Commissioner's) decision or the PDD (Preliminary Draft Decision) or the procedures for the inquiry adopted by the DPC," the judgment said.