The 'Safe Harbor' system, used by thousands of companies in the EU to transmit data to the United States, is invalid (link to official verdict: may be difficult to comprehend). That was said by the European Courts earlier today in a historical decision. Because of this ruling, European governments can now forbid companies like Facebook to transfer privacy sensitive date to the United States.
The 'Safe Harbor' system allowed companies active in the EU, to send privacy sensitive data to the US if they guaranteed adequate protection for the data. Within that system that was setup 15 years ago, American companies could get themselves certified if they met European dataprotection demands. This way they could store European personal data on American servers a lot easier. Thousands of companies and social media giants like Facebook use 'Safe Harbor'.
However that agreement does not adequately protect userdata, at least that is the verdict that was handed down by the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg earlier today. The courts ruled in favor of Austrian privacyactivist Max Schrems. The commitee overstepped their boundaries by revoking national overseers a part of their priviledges, that is what is said in the verdict that was awaited on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
The American social networksite Facebook deems it "absolutely necessary" that the US and the EU find a solution to guaranteeing "safe reliable methods for legal transfer of details". "It is absolutely necessary that the European and American governments ensure that reliable methods for legal transfer of details continue to exist, and that all questions regarding national security are resolved", is the statement made by Facebook Europe.
Claude Moraes, chairman of the comittee for Civil Liberties and Justice in the European Parliament "welcomes" the decision by the courts. The comittee chairman deems the current protection arrangement "inadequate" on the field of protecting EU citizens that use services provided by American companies.
Now it is up to the European Comission to make quick work of an alternative for the 'Safe Harbor Framework', so that protection of personal details by the trans-Atlantic transfer to American companies continues to be assured by the EU-regulations, Moraes states.
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