EU regulator says first of seven Facebook investigations to be completed by summer

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission expects it will complete the first of its seven planned investigations into various data practices at Facebook by the end of the summer.

Reuters reports that commissioner Helen Dixon told Ireland’s RTE radio on Thursday that one of seven investigations into various data breaches and complaints about Facebook’s use of user data will finish by summer’s end, while the other six should wrap up before the end of 2019.

{mosads}“I think the first of those will possibly conclude over the summer — that is our anticipation — and further of the inquiries will conclude in the latter part of the year,” Dixon said.

“We are looking at different aspects of the collection, the transparency and the use of data” at Facebook, she added.

Ireland holds jurisdiction over many tech companies operating in the European Union due to the country’s status as a center for tech headquarters across the Atlantic. Microsoft, Yelp and Airbnb also reportedly lead their European operations from Irish facilities.

The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner referred an investigation of Facebook to the body late last year over the company’s ad targeting practices, while Facebook at the time denied any wrongdoing.

The company admitted last year that Cambridge Analytica, a data firm used by the Trump campaign in 2016, had improperly obtained private sensitive data from as many as 87 million Facebook users.