Facebook is going to challenge the decision of the Data Protection Commission (DPC). The Irish privacy watchdog decided last week that Facebook must immediately stop exchanging personal data between Europe and the United States. According to the American social network, stopping this data flow causes great harm to the European economy. This is according to documents from the Irish court, which privacy activist Max Schrems writes about on his Twitter account.
The case over the exchange of personal data between the EU and the US has been dragging on for years. In 2015, the Safe Harbor agreement was terminated. This included agreements on the processing and exchange of personal data between the EU and non-EU countries. When the European Court of Justice ruled that this arrangement offered too few guarantees to safeguard the privacy of European citizens, the Privacy Shield was created.
According to Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems, the Privacy Shield still offered too little protection for EU residents from big tech giants like Google and Facebook. He decided to take the issue to the court in Ireland. That, in turn, asked for an opinion from the European Court of Justice.
In mid-July, the Court drew a line under the Privacy Shield. According to the court, the arrangement indeed provides too few safeguards to guarantee the privacy of European citizens. They cannot influence how their data is processed in the U.S. In addition, the measures taken by the U.S. to protect Europeans' personal data do not comply with the principle of proportionality required by European privacy laws.
After the European Court of Justice issued its ruling, Schrems said he was pleased with the result. "The ruling makes it clear that the U.S. must seriously update its spying laws if it wants to continue to play an important role in the EU. The only way to overcome this conflict is for the US to introduce solid privacy laws for all people, including foreigners," the privacy activist said.
The DPC further strained relations between Facebook and Europe. The court found it was okay to lay down data-sharing agreements in model contracts, provided they contain the same privacy safeguards as European rules in this area. According to the Irish regulator, this is not the case. Therefore, last week the privacy watchdog banned Facebook from further exchanging personal data between the EU and US.
Facebook has no intention of turning a blind eye to this. The social network will appeal the DPC's ruling, according to documents from the Irish court. When the case will start is not yet known. When we can expect a ruling is also unknown.
No short-term solution is in sight for now. The EU and US have been negotiating a new and improved Privacy Shield for some time. These talks are expected to continue for months. According to European Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders, the upcoming presidential elections, which take place in early November, are delaying the negotiation process. In addition, Congress and the European Parliament still need to approve the agreements made.
