EU Court of Justice Declares US-EU Data Transfer Pact Invalid

Sique writes: Europe's highest court ruled on Tuesday that a widely used international agreement for moving people's digital data between the European Union and the United States was invalid. The decision, by the European Court of Justice, throws into doubt how global technology giants like Facebook and Google can collect, manage and analyze online information from their millions of users in the 28-member bloc. The court decreed that the data-transfer agreement was invalid as of Tuesday's ruling. New submitter nava68 adds links to coverage at the Telegraph; also at TechWeek Europe. From TechWeek Europe's article: The ruling was the court’s final decision in a data-protection case brought by 27-year-old Austrian law student Max Schrems against the Irish data protection commissioner. That case, in turn, was spurred by Schrems’ concerns over the collection of his personal data by Facebook, whose European headquarters is in Ireland, and the possibility that the data was being handed over to US intelligence services.

Comments

Obvious ruling

[Anonymous Coward]

The court simply stated what looks obvious to anyone in good faith: if you do business in a country, you have to abide by the local laws. And given Snowden's revelations, it's purely ridiculous to claim that privacy rights can be respected if foreign data are stored in the US.

So google, facebook, twitter, microsoft, cloud computing services, etc... will have to open their wallets and create data centers inside single EU countries. Otherwise GTFO.

Technology must respect the law, not the other way around. Sorry billionaire nerds.

Re:Obvious ruling

[rmdingler]

And given Snowden's revelations, it's purely ridiculous to claim that privacy rights can be respected if foreign data are stored in the US.

It's pretty ridiculous to claim privacy rights can be respected with regard to personal information stored anywhere.

Do you reasonably suspect the surveillance powers will have any problem crossing imaginary lines in the dirt?

Re:Obvious ruling

[fnj]

the companies in question are found to be colluding with criminal organizations like the NSA

I like the way you express yourself. The problem is that every citizen of the United States is in collusion with a rogue illegitimate government operating in blatant disregard for its own goddam Constitution and in open enmity to the people, for countenancing this abomination of an oligarchy without rising up and overthrowing it. Certainly the voters are, every time they vote for an establishment cog to be part of the vast conspiracy.

Just to make it clear that this is an observation, not a rallying cry, I am too, because I can't even imagine myself in open rebellion. Such is the way the ascendancy of evil undermines vitality.

This ruling won't fix anything

[Richard_at_work]

Simply keeping the data in the EU won't fix anything so long as that data is still being held by US controlled entities, as those entities will still be forced to hand over the data regardless of where it is (lets face it, Microsofts battle against that particular issue is destined to fail).

The only real way this is going to be solved is to force all EU data to be stored by entities that are not owned or controlled by a non-EU entity. Which means Amazon SaRL will be unconnected to Amazon.com and effectively competing against each other.

Re:This ruling won't fix anything

[currently_awake]

You don't understand how this works. The NSA will ask their Euro allies to get the data for them, therefore ensuring continued access.

Re:Laughable

[Schmorgluck]

Nope, the real motivation is compliance to EU laws, like every company has to. Companies who believe they can fully own data about EU citizens and do whatever they want with it are in for a lot of trouble, whatever their nationality. European companies, and even governments, have been condemned too.

What about the Windows 10 builtin spyware?

[ArsenneLupin]

... and what about the spyware built-in to Windows 10. Will European companies still be allowed to use Windows 10 if it will regularly transmit all keystrokes (including passwords, and customer data) to the mothership in the US?

Re:Laughable

[fnj]

Google is just doing what any corporation does. The bottom line is their own aggrandizement. Anything they can get away with to that end they will do. Why do you have this fantasy that they are special?

Capitalism is all about strife and self-interest. It's inherent in the system. You can but-but that by bringing up the "invisible hand of the market", but it is a truism.

Re:They will be a muslem country in a few years.

[Zontar The Mindless]

If ISIS want to send infiltrators to Europe, they can do it much more quickly, easily, and reliably with a few fake passports and some plane tickets.