Facebook data privacy case to be heard before European Union court
Maximillian Schrems has taken his fight agaisnt Facebook to the European court of justice in Luxembourg. Photograph: Max Schrems/Europe-V-Facebook.or/PA
A Facebook user is taking his privacy campaign to the European Unions highest court to prevent US intelligence agencies gaining access to his personal data.
The case brought by Maximilian Schrems against Irelands Data Protection Commission may eventually shape international regulations over access to, and ownership of, online information.
The Austrian law student began the case before the US whistleblower Edward Snowden revealed that the US National Security Agency was routinely intercepting data from emails, social media and telephones.
His initial complaint was to Facebook over what was happening to his personal records. He eventually recovered 1,222 pages of material in 2011 from the US company, whose European headquarters are based in Dublin.
Related: Lawyer suing Facebook overwhelmed with support
Publication of Snowdens revelations spurred him on to take action against the data regulator in the Irish Republic, arguing that his privacy should have been safeguarded against security surveillance. The regulator declined to intervene.
Schrems, whose legal case has been crowdfunded, maintains that companies inside the EU should not be able to transfer data to the US under safe harbour protections which state that US data protection rules are adequate if information is passed by companies on a self-certify basis because America no longer qualifies for such a status.
He is seeking a declaration that the safe harbour designation under EU law should be cancelled and that the Irish DPC should audit the exchange of information rather than allow it to continue unexamined.
Related: Microsoft, Facebook, Google and Yahoo release US surveillance requests
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Facebook data privacy case to be heard before European Union court