Irish judge allows US in case against Facebook over data exchange

An Irish judge has ruled that the US can join as ‘amicus curiae’ in a case against Facebook brought by Max Schrems. This case concerns the admissibility of alternative methods that companies use to store data in the US.

In October 2015, the European Court had already ruled that the Safe Harbor scheme had to be declared invalid, following a case brought by Austrian Max Schrems. The Privacy Shield has recently been adopted as a replacement.

The current case is about the alternative ways to store data in the US, during the absence of the Safe Harbor. The central question here is whether the so-called ‘model contract clauses’ are sufficient to guarantee data protection. The Irish privacy watchdog wants the European court to consider the standard provisions and has therefore referred the case.

Schrems sees the US action as an important sign: “The fact that the US government is participating in the case means that we are hitting them in the right way. The US can ignore the political criticism of mass surveillance, but not the economic importance of data transfers between the US and the EU.” The US position in the case is that of amicus curiae, that is, it is not a party, but can express an opinion.

Other parties have also been admitted to the case, including the American privacy organization EPIC. According to Schrems, other privacy groups have been refused.