EU-U.S. Data Sharing Deal Can't Be Trusted, Top Court Aide Says
- Advocate General criticizes EU for not suspending EU-U.S. pact
- U.S. companies such as Facebook may face greater scrutiny
Servers inside Facebook’s Prineville Data Center in Oregon.
Photographer: Meg Roussos/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
American spies have almost unfettered access to information about European users of Facebook Inc. and other social media thanks to an illegal trans-Atlantic pact on data-transfers, an adviser to the EU’s top court warned on Wednesday.
Secret U.S. orders forcing technology companies to hand over personal data linked to EU citizens can’t continue under an “invalid” data-transfer accord struck 15 years ago, Advocate General Yves Bot of the Luxembourg-based tribunal said in a non-binding opinion. The EU court follows such advice in a majority of cases.