The European Highest Court Considers Transfer of Facebook Users Data Illegal


09/23/2015

However, this is only the opinion of the Court of lawyers, the final decision about a possible US intelligence agencies’ spy on the citizens of the EU will be made before the end of the year



AFP
The European Highest Court found violations of the law in the current situation with Facebook transferred EU users data to the US authorities.

According to BBC, the decision is not final, since it is not a final verdict, but only lawyers’opinion. While the court generally tries to follow their opinion, 15 judges, who are considering the lawsuit on civil rights, are you to make the final decision. It is expected by year's end.

Nevertheless, the activist Max Schrems considers this a small but victory.

- Companies that participate in the mass surveillance of the United States, and provide, for example, cloud services in the EU, work with data centers in the United States. Now, perhaps, they will invest in the construction of such centers in the EU. This can be a serious problem for Apple, Facebook , Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, - he said.

The lawsuit is based on the findings of the ex-CIA officer Edward Snowden, who published the data on the surveillance of US intelligence for Internet users.

Schrems has filed a lawsuit against Facebook because of its popularity and the wide range of data that the social network collects about its users.

EU law prevents the transfer of personal data of citizens in other countries, if their safety is not guaranteed. However, to facilitate the functioning, top American companies are permitted to issue certificates that all necessary steps to ensure the integrity of personal information are made (the so-called principle of Safe Harbor).

source: bbc.co.uk