Facebook looses court challenge over data transfer
The legal challenge follows revelations by Edward Snowden about a US surveillance system monitoring data from global tech firms.
A key agreement which allows American tech companies such as Facebook to transfer users’ data from the EU to the US is invalid, the European Court of Justice has ruled.
The court said the transfer of data could be suspended because the US “… does not afford an adequate level of protection”.
EU data protection laws are among the toughest in the world and forbid EU citizens’ data being exported to countries outside the EU without adequate levels of protection.
Under the Safe Harbour agreement,US companies could fast track this process, so long as they met seven EU principles.
However, law student Max Schrems argued that since Facebook data was subject to mass surveillance by US intelligence agencies, it did not offer an adequate level of protection.
The case was brought against Facebook but could apply to other US companies that process personal data of EU citizens.
For more details, please visit http://news.sky.com/story/1564585/facebook-data-transfer-deal-invalid-eu-rules