Facebook: lawyer EU states may block data to the US – ANSA.it

The United States does not protect personal data of Europeans, transferred through Facebook servers Use, and then the national authorities can suspend the transfer despite the EU Commission considers the United States a ‘safe harbor’ (‘safe harbor ‘), or that ensures an adequate level of protection. And ‘the end of the the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice, Yves Bot , which ruled on the cause of an Austrian member of the European Commission against Facebook.

“ Facebook operates in compliance with EU law on data protection . Like thousands of other companies that manage data transfers across the Atlantic await the text of the judgment,” said a spokesman the California company. “We have repeatedly said – he added – that we do not provide access ‘backdoor’ to Facebook servers and data to governments or intelligence agencies. As Zuckerberg said in June 2013 we have never heard of PRISM before they speak printing and never took part in activities of this kind. “

It all stems from the case of Maximillian Schrems, an Austrian citizen using Facebook since 2008. As with other members residing in ‘ merge the data provided by Schrems in Facebook are transferred, in whole or in part, from the Irish branch of Facebook on servers located within the United States, where they are kept. Schrems has submitted a complaint to the Irish authorities for data protection belief that, in the light of the revelations made in 2013 by Snowden on the activities of the intelligence services in the US NSA, the law and the traditions of US offer no real protection against the control of the American state on the data transferred.

The Irish authorities, however, rejected the complaint, citing a decision of the EU Commission on 26 July 2000 in the context of the so-called system of ‘safe harbor’ for Brussels the United States guarantee adequate level of protection of personal data. Then it was brought before the High Court of Ireland, which has asked the EU Court of Justice if the European Commission’s decision does not limit the action of a national authority which is investigating a complaint from a citizen who believes the Your data at risk.

The Advocate General of the Court, the findings of which almost always reflect the judgments, is convinced that the risk is more than justified. “The law and practice of the United States allow the gathering, on a large scale, the personal data of EU citizens, without these should benefit from effective judicial protection”. So the Commission’s decision “does not contain sufficient guarantees”, and for the attorney general “is invalid”. Also because “the Commission has no competence to limit the powers of the national supervisory authorities.” The Advocate General also believes that “the access of US intelligence data transferred constitutes an interference with the right to respect for private life and the right to protection of personal data”.

So , “in the face of such a finding of violation of fundamental rights of EU citizens, in the opinion of Advocate General, the Commission should suspend the application of the decision, and yet it leads currently being negotiated with the United States in order to end the deficiencies identified “. In summary, the lawyers therefore believes that “the Commission’s decision does not prevent the national authorities to suspend the transfer of data recorded Europeans to Facebook to servers located in the United States.”