Data Transfer pact between USA and Europe ruled Invalid

“Facebook, like many thousands of European companies, relies on a number of the methods prescribed by EU law to legally transfer data to the USA from Europe, aside from Safe Harbor”. The Commission believes the court ruling undermines every business transaction done between the European Union and the United States and will endanger the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade deal being negotiated at the moment.

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Chris Padilla, IBM’s vice-president of government and regulatory affairs, said the decision “jeopardises these vital data flows” and would harm Europe’s plan for a digital single market. While the Safe Harbor agreement is in favor of the U.S., and can always subject to interference by authorities, a few procedures still need to be followed. Thus, the privacy of data of users could breached by the U.S. government and security agencies even under the Safe Harbour Agreement.

Once it has concluded its investigation, the authority must “decide whether … transfer of the data of Facebook’s European subscribers to the United States should be suspended on the ground that that country does not afford an adequate level of protection of personal data”, the court said in a summary of its ruling.

The litigation was started by Max Schrems following concerns from the revelations of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that NSA deploys intense surveillance programs to snoop on citizens and consumers, reported NBC News. As a result of today’s ruling, however, the complaint Irish authorities must judge the complaint based on its own merits without regard for Safe Harbor.

The Irish authorities rejected the case pointing to the safe harbour agreement, which dates from 2000, but Schrems took the matter to the European Court Of Justice, which yesterday ruled the data sharing pact invalid. That leaves tech giants like Facebook and Google operating in a sort of legal limbo and puts Washington on the spot for more concrete safeguards for personal data privacy.

Experts say it’s unlikely that the ruling will have any major impact on users of Facebook and similar services. The agreement allowed companies to transfer data from Europe to the USA.

“It should be seen as part of a general trend – the European Court of Justice has been pro-privacy in a big way, making bold and strong decisions”, said Paul Bernal, a data protection expert at the University of East Anglia.

“The ECJ case came about because of a complaint to the Irish Data Commissioner by an Austrian citizen Mr Schrems”.

Zaneis continued: “For almost 15 years, the Safe Harbor agreement has provided IAB member companies with an efficient means to comply with European Union privacy law. (It) makes it clear that US businesses can not simply aid USA espionage efforts in violation of European fundamental rights”, he said.