Privacy activist Schrems welcomes EU court decision

Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems on Thursday welcomed a decision by the European Union's top court in his case against Facebook, saying the legal basis for more then 5,000 U.S. companies that use the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield to import personal data to the United States was found to violate EU laws.

Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems on Thursday welcomed a decision by the European Union's top court in his case against Facebook, saying the legal basis for more than 5,000 U.S. companies that use the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield to import personal data to the United States was found to violate EU laws. "It looks perfect," he said in a spontaneous reaction when the ruling hit headlines at his office in Vienna.

"The CJEU has annulled the "Privacy Shield" decision by the European Commission that allowed EU companies to easily transfer ("outsource") personal data to US providers in large quantities," non-profit NOYB, which he chairs, said in a statement. "This decision is based on overreaching US surveillance laws that only protect "U.S. persons" but not foreigners," it said.

Schrems had alleged the social media platform to unlawfully process personal data in breach of the European privacy regulation GDPR.