EU
Irish court rejects #Facebook bid to delay EU data privacy case
Ireland’s High Court has refused a request by Facebook to delay referral to Europe’s top court of a landmark privacy case that could strike down legal instruments used by US tech companies to transfer EU users’ data to the United States, writes Conor Humphries.
The case is the latest to question whether methods used by technology firms such as Google and Apple to transfer data outside the 28-nation European Union give EU consumers sufficient protection from U.S. surveillance.
The Irish High Court this month ordered the case to be referred to the EU’s top court to assess whether the methods used for data transfers - including standard contractual clauses and the Privacy Shield agreement - were legal.
A ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) against the legal arrangements could cause major headaches for thousands of companies, which make millions of these transfers every day.
Facebook on Monday (30 April) sought a delay to ask the Irish Supreme Court for the right to appeal the referral, but High Court Judge Caroline Costello on Wednesday refused the request and ordered the referral to be made immediately.
“I am of the opinion that the court will cause the least injustice if it refuses any stay and delivers the reference immediately to the Court of Justice,” Costello told the court.
The case, taken by Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems, was heard in Ireland because it is the location of Facebook’s headquarters for most of its markets outside the United States.
Share this article:
EU Reporter publishes articles from a variety of outside sources which express a wide range of viewpoints. The positions taken in these articles are not necessarily those of EU Reporter. Please see EU Reporter’s full Terms and Conditions of publication for more information EU Reporter embraces artificial intelligence as a tool to enhance journalistic quality, efficiency, and accessibility, while maintaining strict human editorial oversight, ethical standards, and transparency in all AI-assisted content. Please see EU Reporter’s full A.I. Policy for more information.
Stepping out...to get the UK back in European Union
Improving energy efficiency of buildings to reduce bills and save energy
Energy use in the industry sector continues to decline
DG Translation in a city near you: June events
The role of quality assurance in advancing inclusive upper secondary VET in Slovenia
Europe must not turn its back on rural women’s empowerment
Counterfeit cigarettes drive illicit tobacco trade to highest level in a decade, new study claims
Commission accelerates transition away from animal testing in chemical safety assessments
Inconvenient questions about Andorra and San Marino that Brussels should be asking
How digital wallets are changing the way Welsh consumers pay for online services
Impasse in European Union Tobacco Tax Reform: The Swedish veto
EU Cybersecurity Act could expose member states to costly investment treaty claims, legal opinion warns
Várhelyi says unilateral measures by the US against the EU ‘would not be justified’
Libya’s fuel crisis offers lessons for energy security on both sides of the Mediterranean
490+ experts call for €10 billion ring-fenced health allocation in EU budget
ENVI opinion signals early resistance to Biotech Act SPC extension
Kazakhstan reforms under scrutiny at Brussels Press Club round table
Japan should face up to history and contribute more to regional peace
Ambassador calls for 'speeding up' of co-operation between EU and Kazakhstan
Timur Turlov at Smart Moves Summit 2025: How chess can transform global education
Shevtsova’s case: Out-of-court sanctions dismantling trust in Ukrainian cause
The future of European transport
Trump Vs Trueman
