Facebook will not release its new dating services in the European Union scheduled for Thursday after Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), raised concerns about the launch.

DPC said that Facebook Ireland first contacted them in relation to its intention to roll-out a new Dating feature in the EU on Monday 3 February. "We were very concerned that this was the first that we’d heard from Facebook Ireland about this new feature, considering that it was their intention to roll it out tomorrow, 13 February. Our concerns were further compounded by the fact that no information/documentation was provided to us on 3 February in relation to the Data Protection Impact Assessment or the decision-making processes that were undertaken by Facebook Ireland," DPC said.

In order to expedite the procurement of the relevant documentation, authorized officers of the DPC conducted an inspection at Facebook Ireland Limited’s offices in Dublin on Monday last, 10 February and gathered documentation.

“Facebook Ireland informed us last night that they have postponed the rollout of this feature,” said the regulator, which has a number of privacy investigations open into Facebook and its WhatsApp and Instagram subsidiaries.

Facebook announced the launch of the services in the United States in September. They allow users to integrate their Instagram accounts with Facebook’s dating profile and add Instagram followers to their “Secret Crush” lists.