On March 24, 2015, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) heard arguments on case C-362/14. The ECJ is called to decide on whether national judges are “absolutely bound” by a company’s declaration to participate in the Safe Harbor, or whether they could still conduct their own investigations to determine if personal data are protected according to EU standards.
During the hearing, Yves Bot, advocate general, asked the European Commission lawyer Bernhard Schima what advice would he give if he was worried about his data being at the disposal of U.S. authorities. According to a source, Schima replied that he might consider closing down his Facebook account.
Bot said he will publish his non-binding opinion in the case on June 24, 2015. The court may deliver its ruling 4-6 months thereafter.
More information on Case C-362/14, Maximilian Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner, is available at http://curia.europa.eu…
More information on the hearing held on March 24, 2015, is available at http://europa.eu/newsroom/index_en.htm
Related material is available at http://www.technethics… and at http://en.wikipedia…
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