From: anarcissie@gmail.com   
      
   Privacy groups hail 'freedom from surveillance' in European court's Facebook   
   ruling   
      
      European court finds in favor of Max Schrems, student who asked EU's   
      data protection commissioner to bar Facebook from transmitting his data   
      to the US   
      
      Max Schrems   
      Austria's Max Schrems listens to a ruling at the European Court of   
      Justice in Luxembourg on Tuesday. Photograph: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP   
      
      [43]Sam Thielman   
      @samthielman   
      
      Private industry was in a rage while privacy groups were elated on   
      Tuesday over a new ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ)   
      affirming European citizens' right to privacy from American tech   
      companies.   
      
      On Tuesday, the European court [51]ruled in favor of Max Schrems, an   
      Austrian graduate student who asked that EU's data protection   
      commissioner bar Facebook from transmitting his personal data to the US   
      on the grounds that many tech firms had cooperated with the National   
      Security Agency.   
      
      Transmission of personal data had previously been covered by a "safe   
      harbor" agreement between Europe and the US that allowed tech firms to   
      share the data with explicit consent from their customers. Businesses   
      that operate in [52]Europe must now make sure they are compliant with   
      the EU's own laws before they subject their customers' personal   
      information to laxer restrictions in the US, the court said.   
      
      The advertising industry was not pleased. "Today's decision by the   
      European Court of Justice jeopardizes thousands of businesses across   
      the Atlantic," said Mike Zaneis, executive vice-president of public   
      policy and general counsel for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, who   
      called the overturned provision "an efficient means to comply with EU   
      privacy law".   
      
      "The weakening of the Safe Harbor agreement limits European consumers'   
      access to valuable digital services and impedes trade and innovation,"   
      said Zaneis. "We urge the US and EU to agree on new rules for the   
      transatlantic transfer of data, taking into account the CJEU's   
      judgment."   
      
      Evan Greer, campaign director for internet activist group Fight for the   
      Future, said: "The ECJ has confirmed what the vast majority of internet   
      users already know: large US-based tech companies have been deeply   
      complicit in mass government surveillance, and have traded their users'   
      most basic rights for a cozy relationship with the US government. While   
      the discussion around [53]NSA spying has far too often focused only on   
      the rights of US citizens, the ECJ ruling is a reminder that freedom   
      from indiscriminate surveillance is a basic human right that should be   
      protected for everyone, regardless of where they live."   
      
      Tech giants such as [54]Facebook, Apple and Google have long planned   
      for a loss and are likely to fall back on their own user agreements to   
      allow them to transmit data overseas or use their own legal status   
      within Europe to circumnavigate the ruling.   
      
      "Facebook, like many thousands of European companies, relies on a   
      number of the methods prescribed by EU law to legally transfer data to   
      the US from Europe, aside from Safe Harbor.   
      
      "It is imperative that EU and US governments ensure that they continue   
      to provide reliable methods for lawful data transfers and resolve any   
      issues relating to national security," said a Facebook spokesperson.   
      
      The judgement is likely to be "good news for lawyers" for years to   
      come, said one tech executive, and likely to disproportionately hit   
      smaller tech companies.   
      
      James Kinsella, a former Microsoft exec who runs European privacy law   
      compliance company Zettabox, said flatly that the new regulation would   
      not stifle trade. "It will require that companies doing business in   
      Europe understand where they are putting their customers' data. To say   
      it will stifle is like saying, 'requiring seatbelts in cars stifled car   
      sales.' No, it didn't. It made cars safe; it made auto travel a more   
      reliable form of transportation. It made the car an even more desirable   
      and dependable form of transportation. So, too, with cloud services. At   
      the moment, companies are putting their 'passengers/customers' data in   
      the back seat without a seat belt."   
      
      Kinsella also saw at least one area of industry that would benefit   
      immediately from the ruling: European cloud storage. "It will help   
      boost the cloud services business here, in Europe, which will be a good   
      thing for everyone, because it will generate more competition and   
      require that all providers consider new rules (like the [55]GDPR) that   
      will make ALL data safer for everyone."   
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)