Facebook move UK users into Californian terms of services, avoiding EU data protection rules

According to Reuters, Facebook is expected to shift all its users in the United Kingdom (UK) into agreements with its headquarters in California, thus moving them out of their current relationship with Facebook’s Irish entity and out of reach of EU data protection rules. Facebook stated that “like other companies, Facebook has had to make changes to respond to Brexit and will be transferring legal responsibilities and obligations for UK users from Facebook Ireland to Facebook Inc. There will be no change to the privacy controls or the services Facebook offers to people in the UK.” Privacy groups expressed concerns that UK users could be protected by a looser data privacy regime, especially as the UK currently pursues a trade deal with the United States.