Ireland to ask CJEU to rule on EU-US data transfers

Ireland’s High Court announced it would ask the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to determine whether the Standard Contractual Clauses introduced in the EU-US Privacy Shield provided enough data protection to European users. Such a decision will have major implications for Internet companies transferring data of European users to the USA. Austrian activist Max Schrems, the initiator of the case which eventually invalidated the Safe Harbour agreement, argues that given the lack of data protection guarantees in the USA, westward data transfers from the EU should be suspended. Facebook believes the clauses offer robust protections. Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner started the referral process last February.