“The exceptionally broad nature of the Commission’s requests means we would be required to turn over predominantly irrelevant documents that have nothing to do with the Commission’s investigations, including highly sensitive personal information such as employees’ medical information, personal financial documents, and private information about family members of employees,” Facebook associate general counsel Tim Lamb said in a statement. “We think such requests should be reviewed by the EU Courts.”
EU antitrust regulators will have their day in court
The Commission said it would defend its case in court. EU regulators have been combing through documents looking for about 2,500 search phrases which include “big question,” “shut down,” and “not good for us,” said a person familiar with the matter.
The source claimed such search terms could be found in employees’ health information, performance evaluation, and even job applications sent to the company. Facebook claims that none of these items are relevant to the EU investigations.
