Europe's highest court just rejected the 'safe harbor' agreement used by American tech companies
David Ramos/Getty Images
What this means is that companies such as Facebook and Twitter may now need to host European user data in Europe, rather than hosting it in the US and transferring it over.
Here's the press release from the European Court of Justice:
ECJ
*YAY* #CJEU on #SafeHarbor:SH invalid. DPC had to investigate.#EUdataP
- Max Schrems (@maxschrems) October 6, 2015
Breaking: European Court of Justice: "Transfer of the data of Facebook's European subscribers to the United States should be suspended"
- Kamal Ahmed (@bbckamal) October 6, 2015
The ruling comes after privacy advocate Max Schrems brought a case against Facebook in Ireland. He said his privacy had been violated by the NSA's mass surveillance programs first revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden. Schrems is Austrian, but brought the case against Facebook in Ireland because the company's European headquarters are in Dublin.
Here's Schrems at the European Court of Justice today awaiting the ruling:
Cuej: Max Schrems attend la décision sur #Facebook #SafeHarbor pic.twitter.com/wrcGaZQMwh
- Aurélie Mayembo (@aureliemayembo) October 6, 2015
The Data Protection Commissioner, Ireland's data regulator, rejected his case because it was bound by a legal agreement called the Safe Harbor agreement - which Schrems subsequently appealed, resulting in the current European Court of Justice case.
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