Brussels, 24/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday morning 24 March, the European Court of Justice was hearing the case that sees famous Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems take on the Irish data protection authority and Facebook, with the Court having ultimately to rule on the legality of the so-called “Safe Harbor” agreement and on the legality of transferring personal data to third countries, in this instance, to the United States.
Initial submissions were heard on Tuesday morning. A question for a preliminary ruling was put to the Court by the High Court of Ireland following an action lodged by Schrems with the independent Data Protection Commissioner. In his action, Schrems argues that the law and practices of the United States do not provide him with sufficient protection.
The Austrian law student's action directly targets Facebook and was lodged before the Edward Snowden revelations which, by lifting the lid on NSA activities, led the European Commission, too, to ask questions about “Safe Harbor”. In 2013, former Commissioner Viviane Reding gave the US government one year to improve the agreement which governs the transfer of information on European citizens to American giants such as Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.
Schrems is looking to push the Court towards ruling on the legality of the agreement. By February, the European Commission had still not received all the assurances (13 recommendations exactly) it had sought of the United States. At the start of 2014, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for the suspension of “Safe Harbor” until the involvement of US companies in US government surveillance programmes had been fully clarified.
The Advocate General will deliver his opinion on 24 June. (Solenn Paulic)