A little over a week ago, the European Court of Justice upended the Safe Harbor agreement because it allows U.S. authorities to access Europeans’ online data. The case started when Max Schrems, an Austrian privacy activist and founder of Europe v. Facebook, filed a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner (“DPC”) regarding the transfer of his personal data (e.g., “liking” certain pubs) from Facebook Ireland Ltd. (“Facebook Ireland”) in Dublin to Facebook Inc. in California. The DPC had passed on Schrems’ complaint on jurisdictional grounds. The EU’s highest court disagreed with the DPC and found the Safe Harbor agreement did not meet the EU’s privacy standards. The court promised further enforcement guidance to the EU’s relevant national data protection authorities.
Under EU law, transfers of personal data to third countries are prohibited unless the third country can ensure an adequate level of protection. Edward Snowden’s 2013 revelations regarding the N.S.A. Prism program prompted Schrems to file his complaint. Schrems claims that the United States cannot ensure an adequate level of protection due to its broad-reaching surveillance practices.
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