Twitter meets Irish data protection watchdog

Twitter met Ireland’s data privacy watchdog on Monday following the departure of key executives from the social network.

The meeting, held within days of the Irish regulator flagging concerns about changes at Twitter, indicates the urgency for both sides in avoiding misunderstandings that could lead to a crippling of the service in European Union states. It comes just over a fortnight after businessman Elon Musk completed his on-again, off-again takeover of the company in a $44 billion deal with a promise to restore it as a bastion of free speech.

The Data Protection Commissioner (DPC) last Friday requested a meeting with Twitter to establish whether the social media platform would continue to make decisions in terms of the processing of personal data for EU users from their Irish office.

It followed reports of the departures last week of Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth along with the company’s chief information security officer, Lea Kissner, chief compliance office Marianne Fogarty and the group’s highest ranking Irish executive, chief privacy officer Damien Kieran within hours of each other.

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“In light of the coverage over the last 24 hours about the departure of senior staff, including the data protection officer, we want to establish with Twitter that they are going to be continuing to make decisions from their Irish office,” Graham Doyle, deputy commissioner at the authority, told Bloomberg on Friday.

The DPC, the lead watchdog for some of the biggest US tech giants with bases in the bloc, said under European Union rules a company with a European base must have a data protection officer in place and this person must be available to contact when needed.

To be able to continue using Ireland as their EU base, “the decisions that are made in terms of the processing of personal data for EU users must take place in that country, as well”, said Mr Doyle. “If they’re not, that will have a knock-on effect on their ability to avail of the main establishment.”

This could have an impact on Twitter’s ability to avail of the “one stop shop” arrangement, and could see the company forced to deal with individual data protection authorities throughout the EU.

The meeting follows a dispute over the weekend on Twitter between Mr Musk and Irish staff, in which Mr Musk dismissed as “false” a suggestion that his Dublin workforce are banned from working remotely in all circumstances.

Twitter has ordered that its remaining global workforce return to the office as of Monday or otherwise it would be presumed that they had resigned.

That includes the 250 or so employees left at its Dublin offices in Cumberland Place which are its European headquarters. It employed 500 people before Mr Musk made wide ranging cuts last week.

A Twitter contractor who works from Dublin posted on his Instagram page that he was unable to comply with Mr Musk’s order.

“Many of us work all around this country and are unable to do so. This is in the middle of a housing crisis that Musk has absolutely no idea bout and it is almost impossible to move to Dublin so quickly,” the anonymous worker explained.

The Twitter employee blamed Mr Musk for the problem. “We feel completely helpless against this out of touch billionaire and need support from our fellow people.”

The post was shared on Twitter by an account named @balinares who added: “So, word around is, @elonmusk has ordered his Ireland workforce back to Dublin by Monday or else. There is literally not enough housing in Dublin for them to do so.”

Mr Musk responded by stating that those who can work in the office should work in the office. “However, if not logistically possible or they have essential personal matters, then staying home is fine,” he tweeted.

“Working remotely is also OK if their manager vouches for excellence. Same policy as Tesla and SpaceX.”

Mr Musk has been a vocal opponent of remote working, stating earlier this year: “All the Covid stay-at-home stuff has tricked people into thinking that you don’t actually need to work hard. Rude awakening inbound!”