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Cybersecurity & Standards, European Policy, Government Surveillance, Privacy & Data

Top European court rules that NSA spying makes U.S. unsafe for data

Intercept:

The European Union no longer considers the United States a “safe harbor” for data because the National Security Agency surveillance exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden “enables interference, by United States public authorities, with the fundamental rights of persons.”

The EU’s highest court, the Court of Justice, declared on Tuesday that an international commercial data-sharing agreement allowing U.S. companies free-flowing access to large amounts of European citizens’ data was no longer valid.

Although the safe harbor provision applies to commercial data, the underlying issue is the overbroad access of U.S. intelligence agencies to European citizens data, said Jens-Henrik Jeppesen, director of European Affairs for the Center for Democracy and Technology. “Surveillance is the heart of this matter,” Jeppesen told The Intercept. “The highest court in the European Union is not satisfied with the guarantees such as they are under current U.S. laws.”

Full article here.