A trans-Atlantic pact that potentially allows US spies to get their hands on European citizens' private data was declared illegal by the EU's highest court this week, in a ruling that threatens to plunge internet companies into a legal limbo.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Judges at the EU's Court of Justice struck down the so-called safe-harbour accord after an Austrian law student complained about how US security services could gain access to Facebook customer information sent to the US.
"This judgment is a bombshell," said Monika Kuschewsky, special counsel at law firm Covington & Burling in Brussels. The move follows bombshell revelations by National Security Agency defector Edward Snowden about US government spying on citizens.
Facebook, like other tech giants Google and Yahoo!, have been reeling from the effects of the Snowden revelations in 2013. Snowden welcomed the judgment.
The US legislation compromised “the fundamental right to respect for private life", the EU court said.
