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Meta, formerly Facebook Inc, got the nod from the High Court to hear its appeal regarding the decision involving the Cambridge Analytica issue.
The appeal was sought after the Federal Court rejected the social media giant’s claim it does not conduct business in Australia and store Australian information.
The Australian Information Commissioner is suing US-based Meta, and its subsidiary Facebook Ireland over the alleged breaching of 311,000 Australian user’s privacy.
The Australian regulator alleges Meta “committed serious, and/or repeated interferences with privacy in contravention of Australian privacy law”.
But the Mark Zuckerberg-led social media giant argued these laws do not apply to Meta, as the Facebook Ireland subsidiary was conducting the Australian business.
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Further, the social media company argued it did not collect or store people’s personal information in Australia.
Noel Hutley SC, acting for Meta, argued the Federal Court was incorrect in its definition of “carrying on business” in Australia.
He told the High Court Meta did not have a commercial presence in Australia or a contract with Australian users.
Instead, he said, Australians had a commercial relationship with Facebook Ireland which runs all operations outside of the United States.
Ruth Higgins SC, acting for the regulator, argued Meta receives revenue from Facebook Ireland for the data processes it provides which therefore established a commercial relationship.
“These activities were integral to Facebook Inc’s commercial pursuits,” she said.
Related: Meta takes action against Facebook and Instagram data scrapers (commsroom.co)
With AAP. (Content has been tweaked for length and style.)
Jaw de Guzman is the content producer for Comms Room, a knowledge platform and website aimed at assisting the communications industry and its professionals.
