EU-US Safe Harbour data transfer agreement ruled invalid

The European Court of Justice has ruled that the European Commission’s Safe Harbour decision is invalid.

The pact, which has existed for 15 years, allowed companies to transfer personal data from the EU to the US as long as there is an "adequate" level of privacy protection.

Internet giants including Facebook, Google and Amazon rely on the agreement to easily transfer personal data from its European servers back to the US

Austrian resident Maximillian Schrems complained to Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner, with concerns about the transfer of his personal data from Facebook’s Ireland subsidiary to the social network’s US servers.

He claimed, following revelations in 2013 from Edward Snowden, that the US does not offer significant protection of any data transferred against surveillance by authorities.

The court’s ruling said the Safe Harbour agreement doesn’t eliminate the need for local privacy regulators to ensure foreign firms were taking adequate measures.

It also ruled that Ireland’s privacy regulators need to rule on whether the transfer of Facebook’s European members’ private data to the US should be suspended.