Facebook is at the center of the “Schrems” case, which exposed contradictions between U.S. and EU data privacy rules and toppled the U.S./EU Safe Harbor (Schrems I). In Schrems II, Austrian Max Schrems challenges the adequacy...more
We reported in July 2019 that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) heard a case brought by privacy-rights activist Max Schrems, challenging the validity of Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), which are widely...more
The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA”) concluded between Canada and the European Union (“EU”) celebrated its first birthday in September last year. While both Canada and the EU have reported that the benefits...more
On 25 July 2018, Advocate General Kokott proposed that the EU Court of Justice validate the annulment by the EU General Court of the European Commission’s 2013 prohibition decision of UPS's planned acquisition of its...more
The powers of EU data protection authorities are significantly strengthened by the decision, allowing them to suspend some or all personal data flows into the United States in certain circumstances. In Maximillian...more
In our recent update, we reported that the Advocate General (“AG”) to the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”), the highest court in the EU, gave an opinion that “safe harbor” should be declared invalid and that...more
As a reaction to recent disclosures and revelations about the data collection and surveillance by the US government, the Safe Harbor permitting the transfer of personal information from the EU to the US is under attack, and...more
Thousands of U.S. and European companies who rely on the EU–US Safe Harbor Framework to permit the transfer of personal data from the EU to the U.S., have come a step closer to seeing the transfer mechanism struck down....more
In a non-binding opinion issued on September 23, 2015, an Advocate General for the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) recommended that the ECJ suspend the U.S.-EU Safe Harbor program (“Safe Harbor”) and reexamine whether the...more
Data transfers can be suspended until investigation is complete. In Maximillian Schrems v. Data Protection Commissioner (case C-362/14), the Advocate General ruled that EU data protection authorities do have powers to...more
On September 23, 2015, Advocate General Yves Bot advised the European Court of Justice that the US-EU Safe Harbor framework for the protection of trans-Atlantic transfers of personal data is invalid. The long awaited Opinion...more