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posted by martyb on Monday July 20 2020, @07:55AM   Printer-friendly
from the one-small-step-at-a-time dept.

The CJEU (Court of Justice of the European Union) issued its judgment on the Schrems II case, formally called Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Limited, Maximillian Schrems (Case C-311/1). The gist is that US companies are now put back to an average status, same as most others, with no special access to EU data due to operating in the US. It will take a while before the decision is published at the government site. Max himself has also issued his first statement on the CJEU judgment, notably that the European Commission bowed to US pressure and that now reform of US surveillance is unavoidable:

US Surveillance reform is unavoidable - CJEU just says it out loud

The Court was clear that the far-reaching US surveillance laws are in conflict with EU fundamental rights. The US limits most protections to "US persons", but does not protect the data of foreign customers of US companies from the NSA. As there is no way of finding out if you or your business are under surveillance, people also have no option to go to the courts. The CJEU found that this violates the 'essence' of certain EU fundamental rights.

Schrems: "The Court clarified for a second time now that there is a clash between EU privacy law and US surveillance law. As the EU will not change its fundamental rights to please the NSA, the only way to overcome this clash is for the US to introduce solid privacy rights for all people – including foreigners. Surveillance reform thereby becomes crucial for the business interests of Silicon Valley."

He covers several other points in his statement, including that the European Commission clearly bowed to US pressure in its violation, that EU Data Protection Agencies are obligated to act and now have no excuses, the loopholes currently used by surveillance engines like Facebook have been closed, and that these cases are expensive and can only be won through concerted effort and investment.

The roots of the case go back to the Snowden revelations in 2013 after which Max Schrems filed a complaint with Ireland's DPC (Data Protection Commission) regarding the so-called Safe Harbor agreements, leading to their invalidation in 2015 and subsequent replacement by the EU-US Privacy Shield in 2016. It was back in 2017 that the Irish High Court kicked the case up to the CJEU.

Previously:
(2020) Top Euro Court Advised: Citing 'National Security' Doesn't Justify Widespread Surveillance
(2019) EU's Top Court Says Tracking Cookies Require Actual Consent Before Scarfing Down User Data
(2018) Privacy Expert Schrems Files GDPR Complaints Against Google, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp
(2018) Facebook is Trying to Block Schrems II Privacy Referral to EU Top Court
(2018) High Court Sets Out 11 Questions for ECJ on EU-US Data Transfers
(2015) EU Top Court Rules Safe Harbour Treaty Invalid


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  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday July 20 2020, @01:33PM (4 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 20 2020, @01:33PM (#1024089) Journal

    The EU is not Europe.

    I stand corrected on this one.

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
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  • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 20 2020, @01:39PM (3 children)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 20 2020, @01:39PM (#1024095) Journal
    I guess you're sitting on the other correction.
    • (Score: 1) by khallow on Monday July 20 2020, @01:41PM

      by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 20 2020, @01:41PM (#1024097) Journal
      Well, I did say you could thank me later. Rain check then.
    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday July 20 2020, @01:42PM (1 child)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday July 20 2020, @01:42PM (#1024098) Journal

      Not accepting your widening of context.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford