Europe's highest court just rejected the 'safe harbor' agreement used by American tech companies

James Cook,Rob PriceOct 6, 2015, 13:11 IST

BARCELONA, SPAIN - MARCH 02: Founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg speaks during his keynote conference during the first day of the Mobile World Congress 2015 at the Fira Gran Via complex on March 2, 2015 in Barcelona, Spain. The annual Mobile World Congress hosts some of the wold's largest communication companies, with many unveiling their latest phones and wearables gadgets. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)David Ramos/Getty Images

The European Court of Justice has just ruled that the Safe Harbor agreement, which is used by American startups to transfer data between the US and Europe, is invalid.

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:

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Here's Schrems at the European Court of Justice today awaiting the ruling:

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Europe's highest court just rejected the 'safe harbor' agreement used by American tech companies

NOW WATCH: This 3-minute animation will change the way you see the universe