{"id":5940,"date":"2015-10-13T12:47:02","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T10:47:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.combell.com\/en\/blog\/?p=5940"},"modified":"2021-07-08T15:22:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-08T13:22:14","slug":"the-verdict-is-in-for-facebook-but-what-are-the-implications-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.combell.com\/en\/blog\/the-verdict-is-in-for-facebook-but-what-are-the-implications-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"The verdict is in for Facebook, but what are the implications for you?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lees in het Nederlands<\/a> - Lisez en fran\u00e7ais<\/a><\/p>\n

Last\u00a0week, a judge of the Court of Justice of the EU took an audacious decision \u2013 with a single pen stroke, the current process for transferring personal data between the US and Europe has been called into question. But how will this affect you?<\/p>\n

The background<\/h2>\n

The EU Directive 95\/46\/EC was designed to protect the privacy of European citizens. Developed between 1998 and 2000, this directive specifies, for instance, that companies operating in the EU are not allowed to send personal data to companies outside the EU<\/strong>, unless they guarantee adequate levels of protection of privacy.<\/p>\n

In order to make it possible for American companies to collect personal data of their customers in Europe, a process was developed between the US and the EU: Safe Harbor<\/a><\/strong>. Thanks to this agreement, companies that were willing to comply with certain rules were allowed to export the data of EU citizens to the US (i.e. store and\/or process them on servers in the US).<\/p>\n

These rules require that users must be informed about the fact that their data are being collected, that they must have the option to opt out of the collection of these data, that they must be able to access the information (and correct it if necessary), etc. Quite a suitable principle after all, which at first sight seems totally fair, for both companies and citizens.<\/p>\n

The facts<\/h2>\n

\"PrivacySo, nothing wrong\u2026 until 2013, when Edward Snowden<\/a> revealed that the American intelligence services intercept and store all conversations in de US, whether by crooks or ordinary citizens.<\/p>\n

Maximilian Schrems<\/a>, a young Austrian law student who had long been concerned about the methods used by companies such as Facebook to collect user data, sued the social network giant. And, this week, the judge of the Court of Justice of the EU delivered a verdict that startled the entire Internet industry.<\/p>\n

The Court has indeed invalidated the Safe Harbor process.<\/strong> American companies are governed by US laws, which means that American intelligence agencies may access the data, which makes it impossible to guarantee the citizen\u2019s privacy.<\/p>\n

The possible consequences<\/h2>\n

This important decision has major implications, and various scenarios are now possible:<\/p>\n