European Court of Justice to examine alleged Facebook privacy breaches
| 18 Jun 2014: posted by the editor - Internet news, Ireland | |
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The High Court in Dublin has asked the European Court of Justice sitting in Luxembourg to rule on a landmark case which seeks to force watchdogs to audit the personal data Facebook allegedly releases to US spy chiefs. The case has been adjounred by the Dublin High Court Austrian privacy campaigner Max Schrems's initial attempt to have the social media giant audited over data that its Irish arm allegedly passes on to the US National Security Agency (NSA) was dismissed last year by Ireland's Data Protection Commission. The action followed on the back of the Prism surveillance operation exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden. On Wednesday, Judge Desmond Hogan ordered the privacy challenge—taken in the Irish courts by Schrems's EuropeVFacebook campaign—be referred to the European Court of Justice, saying that evidence suggests that personal data is routinely accessed on a "mass and undifferentiated basis" by the US security authorities. The Guardian reported the judge as saying that Facebook users should have their privacy respected under the Irish constitution. "For such interception of communications to be constitutionally valid, it would, accordingly, be necessary to demonstrate that this interception and surveillance of individuals or groups of individuals was objectively justified in the interests of the suppression of crime and national security and, further, that any such interception was attended by the appropriate and verifiable safeguards," the judge said in the Guardian report. Judge Hogan is also asking whether an investigation can be launched in Ireland in light of the Snowden revelations that internet data and communications were being intercepted by the NSA on a global scale. Examining the background to Schrems's challenge, Judge Hogan said only the naive or credulous could have been surprised by the Snowden expose. "Only the foolish would deny that the US has, by virtue of its superpower status, either assumed—or, if you prefer, has had cast upon it—far-reaching global security responsibilities," he said. "It is probably the only world power with a global reach which can effectively monitor the activities of rogue states, advanced terrorist groups and major organised crime, even if the support of allied states such as the UK is also of great assistance. "The monitoring of global communications – subject, of course, to key safeguards – is accordingly regarded essential if the US is to discharge the mandate which it has assumed. "These surveillance programmes have undoubtedly saved many lives and have helped to ensure a high level of security, both throughout the western world and elsewhere. "But there may also be suspicion in some quarters that this type of surveillance has had collateral objects and effects, including the preservation and reinforcing of American global political and economic power." The case has been adjourned at the Dublin High Court until the European court returns an answer. Tags: Facebook, privacy, NSA, data surveillance |
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